Biodiversity > What's This? Vietnam

The pygmy loris is a species of primate, the group of animals that includes humans, apes, monkeys, and lemurs. They live in Vietnam's rainforests.

Vietnamese scientists are just now working with scientists from all around the world to study their country's interesting animals and plants. For many years, Vietnam had wars and other conflicts. This made it hard for scientists from western countries to visit until the 1990's.

"There are species of animals in Vietnam that are not found anywhere else in the world," says Martha Hurley . She's a scientist at the Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC). Since 1997, when CBC scientists were first invited to study in Vietnam, the group has described a small zoo's worth of new animals!

This Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is one of these special species. They have a bluish face and large clown-like lips. But they are critically endangered and found only in Vietnam. There are only a few hundred left!

You may have heard of the Himalaya mountain range between India and Tibet. (Mount Everest is its highest peak.) But did you know that mountains reach from the Himalaya range all the way east into Vietnam?

Jerdon's pit viper can be found in trees on these mountains, hunting in the chilly evenings. In Vietnam it lives 1,900 meters (1.2 miles) high and above! The snake is well adapted to survive in the cool, wet air of its high-rise home.

These scientists are setting an animal trap in central Vietnam. But this trap doesn't hurt! It snaps a photo, not the animal. A motion detector triggers the camera when an animal passes by.

Camera "trapping" is useful to study camera-shy, hard-to-find animals in Vietnam. This information can help identify where animals live and how many there are. Scientists can use this data to help the Vietnam government protect the animals and their habitats.

It's a saola, caught by a camera trap in the Vietnamese forest. Only a few photos of this shy, mysterious animal exist. Before international scientists could easily study in Vietnam in the 1990's, only local people knew of saolas. Now scientists know that saolas are a type of ox. Even now, no scientist has yet seen a saola in the wild.

To count how many saolas are left, scientists are studying clues that saolas leave behind, such as their dung and marks they leave on trees. Their best guess? Only about 300.