A Port St Mary biologist is looking to grow support in the island in her efforts to save a critically endangered animal from the brink of extinction.

Lorraine Scotson is a field co-ordinator working with a conservation group to protect the saola, known as the ’Asian unicorn’, which is the world’s most recently discovered large mammal, only being recorded in 1992.

Miss Scotson, has so far focused her studies and work on the distribution of bears in Asia.

But last year she was asked to join the Saola Working Group, part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission to help attempt a captive breeding programme to save the animal of which there is only believed to be about 100 left in the wild.

She said the opportunity was ’too unusual and interesting to turn down’.

Miss Scotson added: ’The saola is one of the most endangered creatures on the planet, it only lives Annamite Mountains, along the Vietnam-Laos border. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to contribute to potentially rescuing one of the most endangered mammals.

’And that isn’t an exaggeration.’

She explained that in the local area, most of the efforts have focused on clearing snares used to capture the animals and removing fencing used to drive the animals into the snares.

But that is not going to be enough and attempts have now moved to trying to establish a captive breeding programme.

Unfortunately as well as being difficult to capture the animals due to their elusiveness, it is also expensive.

And that is how the Isle of Man comes in, along with her partner, Jim Owen, friend and colleague Claire Skillen and owner of St Mark’s Country Park Graham Taylor, Miss Scotson is planning to hold a number of events for children and adults to highlight the importance of saving animals like the saola.

St Mark’s Country Park will be used to host some of the events.

For more information, contact Lorraine Scotson on 352462 at [email protected] or visit www.savethesaola.org.