There are lots of different endangered species out there. Sometimes, the best thing that people can do to help them survive is to just leave them alone (and maybe stop destroying their habitat). Other times, finding them and bringing them into captivity so that a sufficient breeding population can be protected is the be course of action.

For the Asian Unicorn, experts hope that they will be able to find and protect enough of them for that second method.

Yes, you read that right. Actual scientists are actually trying to find unicorns and breed them. The Asian unicorn (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) is also called the saola and it is considered one of the most endangered mammals in the world. In fact, it might not even exist anymore, but experts are hoping that it does.

Nguyen Quoc Dzung is from the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute in Vietnam. He put out a statement on this animal, saying:

“Right now, the existence of live saolas can neither be proven nor disproven. The last evidence we have was from 2013, when one was captured on a camera trap. But given the remoteness of its habitat, it is extremely difficult to say for sure whether there are still a few out there. There are some signs and indications that still give us hope.”

For those who would like to see this animal, the 2013 video can be seen here:

What gives scientists some hope today is that they have recently been able to map the entire genome of this species thanks to some remains that were provided from hunters that had them from years ago. These remains were used to create complete genomes for 26 individuals, which is quite remarkable. The scientists were quite surprised by what they found.

The lead author of a paper written about the genome, which is published in the journal Cell, is Genis Garcia Erill, who is a former PhD student at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology.

He said in a statement:

“We were quite surprised to find that the saola is split into two populations with considerable genetic differences. The split happened between 5,000 and 20,000 years ago. That was completely unknown before, and there was also no way we could have known without genetic data. It is an important result because it affects how the genetic variation in the species is distributed.”

They found that this animal has likely never had more than 5000 members at any given time, which is quite low for a mammal. The fact that two separate groups split from each other is unusual, but it may actually be what saves the species. Since the groups split so long ago, there is significant genetic diversity. If the researchers are able to find and capture individuals from each group, that would help to dramatically increase the odds of being able to breed them without causing genetic issues.

Rasmus Heller is one of the senior authors of the study and the Associate Professor from the Department of Biology at UCPH. He said:

“If we can bring together at least a dozen saolas – ideally a mix from both populations – to form the foundation of a future population, our models show the species would have a decent chance of long-term survival. But it hinges on actually locating some individuals and starting a breeding program. That has worked before when species were on the brink of extinction.”

So, now the hard part of this project begins. Finding and safely bringing enough of the saolas into captivity so that a successful breeding program can begin.

The survival of these unicorns depends on it.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about 50 amazing finds on Google Earth.