ANNAMITE CRESTED ARGUS

This species is found in the primary and secondary evergreen forests of the Annamites in Laos and Viet Nam, with its range extending from Nghe An province in the north to the Da Lat Plateau in southern Viet Nam. Previously common in the forests within this range, it is now locally extirpated and severely declined in many previously occupied sites. In an earlier IUCN Red List assessment, this species was assessed along with a subspecies (R.o. nigrescens, occurring as an isolated population in peninsular Malaysia) but the latest taxonomic classification has elevated the two subspecies to two full species.

Although the range extent is large, the remaining habitat area is no longer a valid way to estimate the population, considering the severe threats it faces and consequent population declines. Recent camera-trap surveys suggest serious depletion and potential extirpation in some sites, and a low occupancy in Bach Ma National Park and Quang Nam and Hue saola nature reserves where the species was previously abundant. Some populations seem to persist, although at much lower abundance than formerly, in areas with lower snaring pressure such as Song Thanh and Phong Dien, Bac Huong Hoa and Ngoc Linh nature reserves and Khe

Nong Ma Protected Area in Laos. Areas where it and Lo Xo Pass in Viet Nam, but there are very few or no records of the species from these locations in recent years.

The rate of decline in the Annamites is alarming, with hunting being the most pronounced threat, exacerbated by a degraded and shrinking habitat. With intensive industrial-level snaring over the past decade driving steep declines, this previously common species is now assessed as Critically Endangered. Locally, the Annamite crested argus is hunted and traded for its meat, and it is illegally traded internationally as a “pet”. With few effective measures in place to reduce the level of snaring at the required geographical scale, the Red List assessors consider that the population decline will most likely continue.