Donate: Make a minimum donation of US$25 per person. Donate here.
RSVP: Each guest must complete an individual RSVP form, including any dietary or accessibility requirements.
Confirm your registration: After donating, reply to your donation email with “RGS EVENT” and list the names of any guests you are donating for. This allows us to verify your registration.
Questions: Contact info@saolafoundation.org.
A Special Thank You to Givskud Zoo and Odense Zoo
Sometimes, the difference between staying in the field and having to stop comes down to whether support arrives in time.
This June, Givskud Zoo and Odense Zoo stepped forward with vital support that kept our team in the Annamite Mountains during a critical period for the Saola search. We are incredibly grateful and we want to share what their support made possible.
The team travels along stream valleys where possible, as waterways provide easier passage through the rugged Annamite Mountains. Image credit: Maikham Sengmanath
The Annamite Mountains Research and Conservation Team were able to continue the intensive search across approximately 11.2 square miles (29 km²) of priority habitat, systematically searching for Saola and other wildlife, collecting dung samples for DNA analysis, monitoring threats, and recording wildlife observations.
The team collected 191 potential Saola dung samples, while 85 samples from previous months were also tested. So far, none have tested positive for Saola DNA. While this is not the result we hope for, every search helps us refine our approach and build our understanding of this extraordinary landscape.
Our scent detection dog Norman worked in the forest during this mission, completing eight days of searching and alerting the team to 31 dung locations, including muntjac, serow, wild pig, and unidentified dung.
The team conducts DNA testing in the forest and uses Android data collection devices to keep track of data during the Saola search, with images of a female white-cheeked gibbon and Brown Hornbill spotted along the way. Image credit: Phonesouk Chanthalavong (top two images) and Saphanthong Keobounkham (bottom two images)
Image credit: Phonesouk Chanthalavong
And the work revealed much more
We recorded the first Wreathed Hornbills in our survey area, bringing the total number of hornbill species recorded there to four, also detecting, from their calls, two elusive and highly Threatened bird species, Crested Argus and Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo. The team continue monitoring threats, which have remained relatively low throughout the year.
Protecting more than the Saola
Although the Saola is our flagship species, our mission is to protect the biodiversity of the entire Annamite Mountains Bioregion. Every month of fieldwork contributes to that bigger picture, helping us understand wildlife status, identify threats, map important habitats, building the knowledge needed to protect this extraordinary ecosystem.
That is why timely support matters. When you help keep our teams in the field, you are supporting not only the search for Saola, but the conservation of one of Southeast Asia’s most remarkable and threatened landscapes.
The rugged terrain of the Annamite Mountains can be steep, slippery and challenging to navigate. Image credit: Fue Yang
Help keep the search going
Givskud Zoo and Odense Zoo helped keep our team in the forest when funding pressures would have forced the work to stop. We now need to secure the funding to remobilize our field team for the final quarter of 2026.
If you can make a contribution to support the wildlife of the Annamites, please consider making a donation today.
Your support will help us return to the field, continue the Saola search, monitor threats and other wildlife, and help protect the extraordinary biodiversity of the Annamite Mountains Bioregion.
If you’re interested in discussing what it takes to support another full month of adventure and discovery in the Annamites, please get in touch with our team at info@saolafoundation.org!
Image credit: Maikham Sengmanath
Run for Saola with Zoo Ostrava
Today, runners in the Czech Republic are taking on the Zoo Ostrava charity race and running for the Saola!
We are incredibly grateful to Zoo Ostrava for choosing the Saola Foundation as the beneficiary of this year’s race. Every entry fee will help support our conservation work in the Annamite Bioregion of Lao.
The Saola may be one of the world’s most elusive mammals, but today it has hundreds of people running in its name!
Thank you, Zoo Ostrava, to everyone taking part, and to everyone supporting the race. Your energy and generosity are helping protect the Saola and the extraordinary wildlife of the wider Annamite Mountains Bioregion.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media, share our message, and spread awareness about the incredible Saola and Annamite Mountains Bioregion. Your voice matters.
