The experiments were carried out under the BioDiva cooperation project between Vietnam and France, which aims to save threatened domestic and wild animals in Vietnam through research and technology, according to report on Monday.
The independent tests conducted in Paris in early 2005, indicated that 20 days after the saola embryos were implanted into bovines, they developed normally.
Scientists are now seeking out various species suitable for implantation to assess the embryos’ immune functioning.
Saolas and gaurs have rare and valuable gene sources useful for improving domestic bovines say BioDiva researchers.
They have high adaptability to hot and wet environments; a high resistance to certain diseases; and the ability to utilize grass which is low in nutrients.
The saola, or Vu Quang ox, is one of the world’s rarest forest-dwelling mammals and found only in Vietnam’s Vu Quang Nature Reserve and in Laos, near the Vietnam-Laotian border.