In the " Lost World " of Vu Quang


by Chng Soh Koon

V


U QUANG NATURE RESERVE, Vietnam, 1994 - We made our way across the boulder­strewn river very carefully. The rocks looked deceptively steady until you stepped on them. Several times I slipped and fell into the icy water. Luckily it wasn't deep.


Once across, we climbed the steep hill, clutching at trees or branches as we went along. The continuous rain had made the hillside slippery. Although it was rockier, it was easier to use the abandoned logging trail since there were crevices where one could get a foothold.


At 600m, the slope became gentler. We trekked for a further 6km, stopping now and then to rest but more often to remove leeches from our shoes.


We were in the Vu Quang Nature Reserve, in the territory of the saola, a goat­like animal which geneticists say is more akin to the ox - hence its common English name, the Vu Quang ox. Saola is the local indigenous name meaning "weaving spindle", because its horns resemble these long wooden implements.


This shy, nocturnal animal was unknown to the outside world, until scientists from WWF and the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry chanced upon trophies in villagers' homes during their first foray into this remote corner of Vietnam in May 1992.


That mission also found a new river carp, the fourth in the Opsarichthys genus. More recently, in March 1994, the scientists discovered another new mammal species, this time related to the common barking deer. They found only the skulls of the animal, which they have called the giant muntjac (Megamuntiacus vuquangensis) as it is almost twice the size of the largest known muntjac, the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjac).


These discoveries have brought worldwide attention to the reserve, described by some scientists as a "lost world seemingly untouched by the war", and possibly teeming with new species.


As I stopped to catch my breath, I looked around this "lost world". Phan Dinh Phung, the 19th century, anti­French resistance fighter, had chosen his hideaway well. It would be nearly impossible for anyone unfamiliar with this mountainous area, with its steep narrow valleys, to find him or his comrades.


It was in Phung's honour that Vu Quang was first established as a cultural site in 1986. During his time, the forests must have been very thick. Not any more. The Vu Quang Forest Enterprise Concession started operations in 1961 with the twin aims of forest exploitation and reforestation.


But the replanting stopped in 1988 due to lack of funds. Since the saola's discovery, the Ministry of Forestry has closed down the forest enterprise, imposed a logging ban, and enlarged the reserve from 16,000ha to almost 60,000ha.


The sun had just come out from behind the clouds, and was beginning to penetrate through the forest canopy. Would we come face to face with a saola was the question uppermost in our minds as we trekked deeper into the forest. Two nights earlier, before we left Hanoi for the 10­hour bumpy road journey to Vu Quang, we had seen a saola skin, complete with head, horns and hoofs. Seeing it removed all my doubts about the existence of the animal, or that it was a mutant form affected by Agent Orange.


"Tell me, John, will we ever see the beast alive?" I asked Dr John MacKinnon, co­leader of the first survey mission, who was now back in the reserve helping WWF with a phototrapping survey of the saola.


We had already seen fresh footprints of a herd of five, maybe six gaurs, several foraging sites of wild pigs, civets' droppings, and a dance area of the crested argus pheasant. We had also heard a gibbon's call amidst the chorus of numerous forest birds.


"No," replied MacKinnon. "Maybe if you go out at night. But then you could get yourself killed venturing out in the dark in this treacherous terrain."


Dr MacKinnon, a frequent visitor to Vu Quang, has yet to see a live saola. Neither have Pham Mong Giao, the mammalogist with the Ministry of Forestry and another frequent visitor, nor Shanthini Dawson, WWF project executant who has been working in the reserve since November 1993.


Mr Giao believes that it is easier to spot the saola in the bigger and less disturbed forests of the proposed Pu Mat reserve, adjacent to Vu Quang's north­west border. When approved, the 100,000ha Pu Mat reserve would, together with Vu Quang, form a sizeable forest complex.


Ms Dawson has been conducting field surveys to identify possible "corridors" to link the two reserves. These forest corridors would enable large animals such as the saola, giant muntjac, Asian elephant, and tiger to move freely between the reserves, hence increasing genetic diversity, which in turn helps preserve viable populations.


During her surveys, Ms Dawson has come across the saola's footprints and droppings, and also feeding signs. The saola's common food is thien nien kien (Homanolema aromatica), literally meaning "thousand years strong". Local people believe that its roots, when dried and mixed with water and drunk, can strengthen the arms.


So far the six automatic cameras set up in the reserve for the phototrapping survey have also failed to capture the animal on film. These cameras are connected to pressure pads. When an animal steps on the pad, it triggers the camera, thereby photographing itself. The system is similar to that used in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park where, for the first time, scientists were able to obtain accurate data on the age, sex, and health of the wild Javan rhino population there.


Information from the surveys, and from interviews with villagers, will be used to draw up a long­term conservation plan for the saola. It was during one of these visits to local villages when Do Tuoc, a Ministry of Forestry field biologist and Ms Dawson's local counterpart, drew her attention to the skulls of the giant muntjac.


Ms Dawson fears that hunting pressure could drive both newly discovered species to extinction. "It would be tragic if these species, having survived 30 years of war, become extinct now because of hunting," she said.


There are over 20,000 people living in and around the Vu Quang reserve. Although most farm crops such as sugarcane, they supplement their income with hunting. They mainly hunt wild pigs and the common muntjac, with the giant muntjac coming a close third. Occasionally, a saola walks into their traps.


The people eat the meat of both animals. In addition, the teeth of the saola and the skulls of the giant muntjac are ground for use as medicine. Since their scientific discoveries made global headlines, both species have gained immense monetary value, dead or alive.


Dr MacKinnon said the publicity about the new species is creating interest among animal collectors and trophy hunters. "A few local institutions have already paid money for specimens alerting local hunters to the potential monetary value of the animals," he said.


In one hunting season, from September 1993 to February 1994, about 4,000 snares were set in the reserve and local villagers reportedly caught 15 to 20 giant muntjacs and three saolas.


Alarmed by this pressure, the Ministry of Forestry imposed a hunting ban, but it has largely been ignored. To counter this threat, guard posts have been set up in the reserve.


Public education is also very important, Mr Giao believes. "Nature conservation is still new here," he said.


A major concern, however, is to improve local living standards. Vu Van Dung, chief botanist at the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and co­leader of the first survey mission, is keen to encourage farming of the sika deer, Cervus nippon.


The deer is bred for the velvet of its antler which is used in traditional medicine to treat blood disorders and anaemia. Research in the former Soviet Union has shown that the velvet contains a substance called pantocrin, which clinical trials have proven to be useful as a tonic and for accelerating the healing of wounds and ulcers.


In Vietnam, the antler is sold for as much as 30 million dong (US$3,000) per kg. The live deer itself is also worth a lot. A young male deer fetches around 6 million dong (US$600). And, as a female can produce offspring, the price for one is much more - between 30 and 80 million dong (US$3,000­8,000).


In villages like Duc Loc, a stone's throw from Vu Quang, deer farming is popular. Visiting Nguyen Van Ngo, who makes his living solely from deer farming, one can see why. Mr Ngo's house boasts a television set, a refrigerator, and a stereo set - luxury items in a poor country. His house, a stone bungalow with tiled roof, stands in contrast to the small thatch huts in Vu Quang.


Mr Ngo started deer farming in 1985 with one male deer. Profits from the sale of the antlers enabled him to acquire a female in 1988. She has already produced three offspring, all of which Mr Ngo has sold. Mr Ngo says deer farming is easy and doesn't take much space.


Vu Quang villagers are very keen to start deer farming, but many are not able to raise the capital. So other livelihood projects are being developed. This includes government­sponsored rubber and cinnamon plantations outside the reserve. These plantations are expected to create employment for the local communities, and will hopefully absorb the 130 or so workers of the now­defunct Vu Quang Forest Enterprise.


WWF hopes to turn some of these former destroyers of the forests into their guardians. "With their knowledge of the forest, these people are well placed to protect it," said David Hulse, WWF Vietnam Country Representative. "But it will take time to change their thinking."


It was time for us to change tracks, too. As we gingerly made our way down the hill, often sliding down the rain­soaked paths, and disappointed that we hadn't managed to get a glimpse of the saola, we hoped there was still time to save Vu Quang and its newly and yet­to­be discovered biological riches.


May 1994


Editor's note: In June 1994, the Vietnamese authorities confiscated a young saola caught by a local hunter in a forest just outside Vu Quang. The female calf, estimated to be between four and five months old, is the first live saola scientists have seen since its discovery in May 1992. However, that female and a male calf found in August succumbed to respiratory and digestive problems around the end of September. Their deaths highlight the difficulty of holding rare wild animals in captivity - especially when they are a newly discovered species scientists know nothing about. It also emphasizes the urgency of conserving saolas in the wild.


In November 1994, the 9th Conference of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Parties accepted Vietnam's proposals to list both the saola and the giant muntjac in the Convention's Appendix I. This means that all trade in the species is prohibited.


In June 1995, with funding from the Dutch government, WWF launched a five­year project aimed at balancing conservation and development needs in Vu Quang. Project activities include helping Vu Quang's seven local communities formulate land­use plans and developing sustainable economic schemes such as integrated farming systems and fuelwood plantations.



WWF in Vietnam - Statistics


WWF Projects in Vietnam




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Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature