Despite being so prevalent in folklore the unicorn sadly does not exist.

What does exist, at least in theory, is a creature known as the saola, which is commonly referred to as the ‘Asian unicorn’ – not because of its single horn (it actually has two) but because of just how rare this creature is.

At this point it almost seems like the stuff of folklore itself; first discovered in 1992, this creature is super secretive, extremely elusive and, sadly, as a new research project proves, the saola is actually the last creature in its evolutionary line.

And there are only around 100 left in existence, according to the IUCN Red List.

The sad truth is that the saola could be extinct at this point, especially since it hasn’t been spotted since 2013. But for a creature that went undetected for so long, this isn’t really a surprise.

Why is the saola so hard to find? Well, as a new study from Danish and Vietnamese researchers – which was recently published in the journal Cell – explains, the saola is known to live deep within the Annamite Mountains that span Vietnam and Laos.

The terrain here is deeply forested, hard to access and hard to traverse, which makes it significantly harder for experts to search for the creature, as Nguyen Quoc Dung explained in a statement:

“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.”

But despite the lack of live saola to study, the researchers were able to learn more about this curious creature than ever before, and it was all thanks to remains from saolas that had been hunted in days gone by.

As their study into the saola genome proves, the creature actually spans two different populations with the two types of saola quite different – and this could be the key to the saola’s conservation, if individuals of the two species can be located, as Rasmus Heller continues:

“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.”

It’s fascinating that the genetic diversity of the two saola populations, which is complimentary in nature despite occurring between 5,000 and 20,000 years ago, could be what keeps them alive in the present.

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