Credits: World Wild Life Fund (WWF)
Hunting activities imposes the biggest threat to the Saola’s population. The intense levels of hunting in the Annamite mountain regions have contributed to the decline of the Saola’s population.
In the traditional Chinese medicine practice, certain animals are valued for their medicinal properties, as such hunting and snaring traps are distributed across the regions in a bid to capture animals with such medicinal properties. Because little is known about the Saola due to it being rarely seen, it is assumed that they have no such medicinal value and thus is not a targeted species. However, they often get trapped and killed in the snares set up by the hunters. In addition they are very often a victim of hunting activities and are killed as a by-catch of these hunting efforts. In some cases, the horns of the Saola are kept as trophy. Thus this mammal gradually driven to extinction.
As mentioned, the development of remote areas such as roads has allowed previously inaccessible areas to be easily accessible, thus encouraging the hunting activities to be carried out in those areas.