Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

the headwaters of the Xe Bangfai and adjacent areas
immediately to the south, (2) the Nam Chouan PNBCA
and adjacent Xiangkhouang Province, and (3)
Bolikhamxai Province to determine the western extent
of distribution.
• Judicious road planning to prevent currently remote
areas bring opened up to vehicle access. The range of
Saola is narrow in shape and consequently the population
is vulnerable to being severed into smaller fragments,
the total viability of which would be considerably less
than that of the population in its current state.
• Basic field studies of Saola’s ecology, to allow design
and management of conservation areas for it. There are
no closely related taxa from which extrapolations can be
made.
• Such studies should certainly precede any further attempts
at capture, for which there is at present no clear rationale:
all 13 known to have been brought into captivity in
Lao PDR and Vietnam during 1992-1996 died relatively
rapidly (Robichaud 1998c; WGR).
• Further detail is given in Tizard (1996), Robichaud
(1997a) and Timmins (in prep.). Action is of very high
priority as, unlike species such as Kouprey, rhinos and
Hog Deer, sufficient numbers of Saola persist for protective
measures to be successful, if appropriate political
support is forthcoming (Robichaud 1997a).
All species:
• Identification of critical areas (those holding in excess
of 30 Gaur, 10 Banteng or five Saola, or any Kouprey,
Wild Water Buffalo or Khting Vor).
• Control of retail outlets selling wild bovid products (for
medicine or trophies), including closure of persistent
offenders dealing in wild cattle and/or Saola.
• Effective hunting and access controls in NBCA management
plans / land use plans to allow maintenance of large
tracts of wilderness to support populations of all species.
• Clear and absolute legal protection for all species except
possibly serow with committed enforcement activity
across the country, especially with regard to snaring.
• Educational campaigns against trophy collection and,
particularly, medicinal use, which is believed to be the
major reason in Lao PDR behind poaching of wild cattle
and serow.
• Investigation of the current trade in parts, particularly
source, routes and destinations, and the possibilities for
use of substitute materials; with focus on parts for medicinal
use rather than trophy horns.
• Wild cattle present one of the toughest national conservation
challenges to Lao PDR and for any chance of success
action needs to be concerted, cross-sectoral, coordinated,
internationally collaborative, and rapidly instigated
(Srikosamatara and Suteethorn 1995, Le Xuan
Canh et al. 1997, Duckworth and Hedges 1998a, Hedges
in prep.).
Large Mammals
Sciuridae: Non-flying squirrels (9-12 species in Lao PDR;
230 worldwide)
• Ratufa bicolor Black Giant Squirrel (= Malayan Giant
Squirrel M1 ). Conservation Significance: Potentially At Risk
in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix II. Documented Range and
Habitat: North M13 , centre M8 , south M8 . Evergreen forest, from
plains up to at least 1400 m, rare in fragmented and/or heavily
degraded areas. Status Information: Recorded from most
survey areas (Table 12) but susceptible to habitat disruption,
probably through increased hunting (Plate 17), rather than
an inability to use such habitat. In some areas, populations
are now so low that the species was not seen during field
surveys, e.g. Sangthong District, Nam Et and Phou Louey
NBCAs (Duckworth 1996a, Davidson 1998). Historical information
is thin; Delacour listed it only for the north, but
Deuve (1972) considered it widespread. Formerly one of the
most commonly sold mammals in the That Luang fresh food
market in Vientiane (Srikosamatara et al. 1992). The species’s
decrease in encroached areas means that it should be
considered Potentially At Risk in Lao PDR, although national
extinction is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
Callosciurus erythraeus Pallas’s Squirrel (= Belly-banded
Squirrel M4 ) (separated as C. flavimanus Belly-banded
Squirrel M2 ). North, centre, south (Moore and Tate 1965);
recent records from across the country. Mainly in mountains,
foothills and adjacent lowland areas; rare in extensive lowlands
such as the Mekong plain or the Xe Kong plains, but
one anomalous record from the latter (Evans et al. in prep.
b). Forests of all types, including heavily degraded areas.
Taxonomic issues: The genus Callosciurus has many
phenotypic forms in Indochina. Collecting has been too
patchy to allow their full documentation, understanding of
relationships between them, and the number of species involved
(see Moore and Tate 1965). The named Lao forms of
C. erythraeus (sensu Corbet and Hill 1992, but separated by
Moore and Tate 1965 as part of the highly variable C.
flavimanus) are: C. e. hendeei, from Phongsali south to at
least Ban Houayxai (Bokeo Province) and C. e. flavimanus,
including ‘quantulus’ from Xiangkhouang (Tranninh plateau;
Delacour 1940), ‘pirata’ from Nape and ‘bolovensis’ from
Pakxong. Intermediates between hendeei and flavimanus were
found along the Nam Khan east of Louangphabang. Too few
specimens existed to allow Moore and Tate (1965) to distinguish
between geographic, seasonal and individual variation.
Recent observations within Lao ‘flavimanus’ indicate that
further populations merit naming (e.g. the Nam Kading river
separates two morphologically distinct populations; Evans
et al. in prep. b). (Plates 14, 17)
Callosciurus finlaysonii (= C. finlaysoni M2 ) Variable Squirrel
(= Finlayson’s Squirrel M4, M5 ). North (Boonratana 1997), centre
(TDE), south M8 . Forests and scrub, mainly along the plains
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