Rumble in the Jungle - The plight of endangered hooved animals in the Greater Mekong
Little is known about many of the region’s hooved mammals; the saola for example was only discovered in the early 1990s and has been hailed by scientists as one of the most significant new mammal finds of the last 70 years. The ungulates of concern vary in species and status: from ‘dog-sized’ deer to culturally significant cattle; from large antlered species to others so seldom seen that they have taken on mythical status. What is known, is that their futures are uncertain.
Many of the ungulate species are endangered. Living amongst the new emerging economic powers of Asia, a combination of human pressures: hunting and international wildlife trade, habitat destruction, particularly deforestation and degradation, and infrastructure development, is quickly eroding populations of these extraordinary species.