Straddling the Laos-Viet Nam border, the transboundary Annamite Mountain range - with its forested valleys, limestone karst hills and vertiginous mountains - is a hot spot for endemism in Southeast Asia. Many mammals that are found nowhere else on earth have been only recently described by science, including the saola, large-antlered muntjac and Annamite striped rabbit. But these species are under threat. Habitat is being lost and degraded, and hunting pressure from snares is decimating populations of ground-dwelling animals. The illegal trade in wildlife as meat, medicine and pets is pushing many species closer to extinction.
