New deer species discovered in Vietnam
New deer species discovered in Vietnam
JAKARTA (JP): Vietnam has again proved to be terra incognita
to the outside world, after scientists last month found a species
of deer unknown to the scientific community in the same area
where a similar find of an ox species was made two years ago.
The team which found the ox (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), locally
known as sao la, and a new carp species (Opsarichthys
vuquangensis) in Vu Quang, a nature reserve in northern Vietnam,
in May 1992, discovered the new species the scientists call the
giant muntjac. Muntjacs are also known as barking deer.
The giant muntjac has a deep red grizzled coat and the
underside of its tail is white. Its 20-centimeter-long antlers
are bowed inwards and slightly turned forward. Its weight is
estimated to be between 40 to 50 kilograms but a live specimen
has not been taken.
Its size is estimated to be at least one and a half times that
of the largest known muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons). Distinctive
also are its antlers, both longer and bowed, with much longer
tines (up to 10 centimeters), short pedicles and massive canines.
The new species also lacks the tuft of hair normally found on
the brow and base of antlers in other deer species.
The scientists, a joint survey team from the Vietnamese
forestry ministry and the Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) expected the muntjac, like the Vu Quang ox, to exist also
in adjacent forests of Nghe An province and in Laos.
Trophies
The 19 trophies of giant muntjac in hunters' homes in Kim
Quang, the village where trophies of the sao la were discovered,
is what put the scientists on track. After the wild pig it is the
most commonly caught wild species in the area. The villagers hunt
the animal for its meat.
Between 15 to 20 muntjac were trapped in the village between
July 1993 and January 1994, suggesting it to is more common than
the sao la, of which only three were trapped in the same period.
Genetic tests performed at a Swedish university on skin
samples confirmed that the animal was formerly unknown. Finding a
new large mammal species has been a rare event in this century.
Beside these two finds, only five species of large mammals have
been discovered worldwide this century.
The Vietnamese forest ministry is planning further
investigations on the chance that more species in the Vu Quang
Nature Reserve may be revealed.
Since the discovery of the sao la ox, the Vietnamese
government has enlarged the Vu Quang reserve from 16,000 hectares
to 60,000 hectares, declared logging and hunting bans, and
approved a management plan for the reserve.
Another site 125 kilometers northwest of Vu Quang along the
Laos border, the Phu Mat reserve, which harbors the sao la and
other large mammals such as elephant and tiger, is expected to
get more protective status soon. (smb)
JAKARTA (JP): Vietnam has again proved to be terra incognita
to the outside world, after scientists last month found a species
of deer unknown to the scientific community in the same area
where a similar find of an ox species was made two years ago.
The team which found the ox (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), locally
known as sao la, and a new carp species (Opsarichthys
vuquangensis) in Vu Quang, a nature reserve in northern Vietnam,
in May 1992, discovered the new species the scientists call the
giant muntjac. Muntjacs are also known as barking deer.
The giant muntjac has a deep red grizzled coat and the
underside of its tail is white. Its 20-centimeter-long antlers
are bowed inwards and slightly turned forward. Its weight is
estimated to be between 40 to 50 kilograms but a live specimen
has not been taken.
Its size is estimated to be at least one and a half times that
of the largest known muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons). Distinctive
also are its antlers, both longer and bowed, with much longer
tines (up to 10 centimeters), short pedicles and massive canines.
The new species also lacks the tuft of hair normally found on
the brow and base of antlers in other deer species.
The scientists, a joint survey team from the Vietnamese
forestry ministry and the Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) expected the muntjac, like the Vu Quang ox, to exist also
in adjacent forests of Nghe An province and in Laos.
Trophies
The 19 trophies of giant muntjac in hunters' homes in Kim
Quang, the village where trophies of the sao la were discovered,
is what put the scientists on track. After the wild pig it is the
most commonly caught wild species in the area. The villagers hunt
the animal for its meat.
Between 15 to 20 muntjac were trapped in the village between
July 1993 and January 1994, suggesting it to is more common than
the sao la, of which only three were trapped in the same period.
Genetic tests performed at a Swedish university on skin
samples confirmed that the animal was formerly unknown. Finding a
new large mammal species has been a rare event in this century.
Beside these two finds, only five species of large mammals have
been discovered worldwide this century.
The Vietnamese forest ministry is planning further
investigations on the chance that more species in the Vu Quang
Nature Reserve may be revealed.
Since the discovery of the sao la ox, the Vietnamese
government has enlarged the Vu Quang reserve from 16,000 hectares
to 60,000 hectares, declared logging and hunting bans, and
approved a management plan for the reserve.
Another site 125 kilometers northwest of Vu Quang along the
Laos border, the Phu Mat reserve, which harbors the sao la and
other large mammals such as elephant and tiger, is expected to
get more protective status soon. (smb)