Vietnam finds ASEAN's rarest animal species
Large-antlered muntjac - one of the rarest mammals in Southeast Asia with extremely small numbers, has just been found in Quang Nam, opening up hope for animal conservationists.
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| Image of a Large-antlered Muntjac. Photo taken in Quang Nam province. |
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), for the first time two Large-antlered Muntjac individuals were recorded by camera traps in Quang Nam during a biodiversity survey and assessment activity in this area conducted by WWF-Vietnam, the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and Quang Nam authorities.
The large-antlered muntjac has been known to scientists since 1994 and is found only in the Annamite Mountains, where Laos and Vietnam border. It is one of the rarest and most endangered mammals in Southeast Asia.
Since 2000, this species has only been recorded through camera traps in three forests in Vietnam. In 2016, due to the excessive decline in population numbers, the status of the Large-antlered Muntjac was changed from Endangered to Critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The species’s decline is due to illegal hunting, mainly using simple wire snares. The forests of central Vietnam are plagued by widespread and sophisticated snares. Between 2011 and 2017, WWF rangers and forest patrols removed more than 100,000 snares in the two Saola Nature Reserves in Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam.
“We do not have large-antlered muntjacs in captivity, so if they are lost in the wild, they are gone forever,” said Benjamin Rawson, Director of Conservation and Programme Development at WWF-Vietnam. “Scientists are racing against time to conserve this rare species. To be successful, we must address the core issue of trapping and establish captive populations.”
According to Mr. Phan Tuan, Head of the Quang Nam Provincial Forest Protection Department, the recording of the images of the two individuals has a great significance in the conservation of this species. “This is great news. The images show that the two individuals of the Large-antlered Muntjac are both in adulthood and breeding age. These images are proof of the existence of the Large-antlered Muntjac in Quang Nam, and at the same time give us hope for a population capable of breeding this rare animal,” Mr. Tuan shared.
WWF Vietnam said that conservationists are making every effort to protect the Large-antlered Muntjac in the wild. However, realizing that this species is facing many threats, with an extremely small population, the Government and international organizations are planning to breed this species in semi-wild captivity.
