Found by scientists in 1992, Saola is critically endangered and is listed in the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Red Data Book of Việt Nam.

The project will provide urgent and direct support to identify and mitigate threats to the species within priority areas in the Central Trường Sơn region while raising public awareness to increase the ability to detect the presence of Saola within its habitat range.

The Saola population has been very small since its discovery. The species is distributed thinly, scatteredly, and saola mainly inhabits the upstream rocky areas at an altitude of over 200 to 600 meters. It is also impossible to determine how many individuals are left. Conservation of the typically shy, deer-like species is extremely difficult. VNS