The twin-horned saola, also known as the Asian unicorn has been sighted in Vietnam. The animal is on the endangered species list and is sighted less often every year. The World Wildlife Federation set up cameras to try to spot the elusive creature in September, and their efforts paid off.

“When our team first looked at the photos we couldn’t believe our eyes. Saola are the holy grail for South East Asian conservationists so there was a lot of excitement,” said Van Ngoc Thinh, WWF Vietnam’s country director.

The Vietnam is known for hiding elusive animal species and has been the location of many newly found animal species such as the the yin-yang frog and the Phallostethus cuulong fish. Unfortunately is it also the home to many critically endangered animals species as well. In 2011 a species of Rhino was hunted to extinction in the area.

The WWF works closely with forest officers in the Vietnam to prevent poachers from killing animals, especially those that are considered endangered. The WWF says that the sighting of the saola is proof that their conservation efforts are paying off.

If the forest guards and the WWF can continue to prevent poachers from hunting the forests of Vietnam, it is possible that many more new animals species will be discovered with in the next decade, and many existing species can be saved from extinction.

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