為試圖拯救一種在16年前被人類發現的極度罕見動物免於瀕臨滅絕的危機，保護生物學家在寮國召開緊急會議後向世人提出警告。
害羞和慣於獨來獨往的中南大羚，學名為（Pseudoryx nghetinhensis），一般只出没於沿著寮國和越南邊境偏遠的安那脈地（Annamite）山脈河谷。中南大羚臉部白色的紋路及纖長的角看似阿拉伯沙漠中的大羚羊，但事實上其品種與野牛更為接近。
據估計目前成年的中南大羚數量少於250頭，並且數量還在持續下降中。而其最大的亞種群成年的大羚數量估計不到50頭。
世界野生動物基金會（World Wildlife Fund）保育生物學家龍（Long）表示：「很少人目睹或拍到過中南大羚，並且實務上也證實很難用圈養的方式協助其繁衍。一直以來在世界各地從沒有任何動物園嘗試過。其野生數量可能只剩下幾十頭，至多不超過幾百頭。」
威脅中南大羚生存的主要原因為由於狩獵而導致其棲地遭受破壞和諸如公路建設等的人類入侵行爲。據在寮國首都永珍(Vientiane)與會的專家表示，如今在越南穿越安那脈地新的胡志明路，與其通往寮國的分支道路，將對該物種造成無法補救的重大威脅。
與會專家指出誘捕和使用獵犬狩獵為該物種所面對主要並直接的威脅。他們並強調若不能加緊清除在幾個安那脈地森林中關鍵區域偷獵者設下的誘捕器並減少獵犬的使用，就不可能拯救中南大羚。中南大羚一般棲息於常年濕潤，幾乎很少或根本完全沒有旱季的長綠森林帶。而且活動範圍只有在25平方公里左右的大小區塊。
世界自然保育聯盟（IUCN）表示，如在其出沒範圍砍伐清除林地以進行小規模農業活動、取用木材、道路和水利開發等棲地的破壞也會對中南大羚造成威脅。
中南大羚已被列入瀕絕野生動植物國際貿易公約（CITES）附錄一中，並且該物種的分佈國都是公約的簽署國。因此受到越南和寮國的法律保護。
儘管如此，保護中南大羚的行動在寮國卻難以得到政府的支持，甚至在某些情況下還力阻。任職於寮國擔任中南大羚工作組的負責人羅比肖（William Robichaud）曾經先後於1997年和1999年在寮國為該物種寫過兩個版本的保育行動計劃，但至今尚未得到寮國政府允許執行該計劃。
One of the world's rarest mammals, discovered just 16 years ago, is on the brink of extinction, warn conservation biologists after an emergency meeting in Laos to try to save the animal.
Shy and solitary, the Saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, lives only in the remote valleys of the Annamite Mountains, along the border of Laos and Vietnam. With its white facial markings and long tapering horns, the animal resembles the desert antelopes of Arabia, but is more closely related to wild cattle.
The remaining population is estimated at fewer than 250 mature individuals, with a continuing population decline, and the largest subpopulation estimated to number less than 50 mature individuals.
"Saola have rarely been seen or photographed, and have proved difficult to keep alive in captivity," said Long, a World Wildlife Fund conservation biologist. "None is held in any zoo, anywhere in the world. Its wild population may number only in the dozens, certainly not more than a few hundred."
The Saola is threatened primarily by hunting accelerated by continued fragmentation of its habitat to increased human access, mainly through road construction. The new Ho Chi Minh Road through the Annamite Mountains in Vietnam, with additional roads branching to Laos, is a major and probably unmitigatable threat, according to experts at the Vientiane meeting.
They identified snaring and hunting with dogs as the main direct threats to the species and emphasized that the Saola cannot be saved without intensified removal of poachers' snares and reduction of hunting with dogs in key areas of the Annamite forests.
Saola inhabit wet evergreen forests with little or no dry season and are present only in forest blocks over over 25 square kilometers.
Habitat destruction is also a threat to the Saola, says the IUCN, as forests in their range are being cleared for small-scale agricultural use, timber extractions, roads, and hydropower development.
This species is listed on Appendix I of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, and both of its range countries are CITES signatories. It is protected by national law in Vietnam and in Laos.
Efforts to initiate Saola conservation activities in Laos have received little government support, and in some cases have been actively blocked. William Robichaud, based in Laos, who serves as coordinator of the Saola Working Group wrote two editions of a conservation action plan for the species in Laos in 1997 and 1999, but permission for implementation has not been granted by the Lao government.
