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This proposal comes from a need to address two related issues of global significance within the context of Vietnam. Certain species are ‘vanishingly rare’; i.e. they survive at such low densities that fieldwork must concentrate on locating scattered individuals. Some of Vietnam’s conservation flagships, like the saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis and the turtle Rafetus swinhoei clearly fall into this category and it now also includes the country’s two bear species. Standard surveys designed to estimate population parameters may fail such species. Camera trapping results from Pu Mat National Park (94,804 ha) are typical; a grid of 110 cameras covering the park did not detect bears and nor did an intensive grid within a 2,500 ha area. However cameras set in the same small area by a CERD team in partnership with a skilled local hunter detected both Asiatic black bear and Sun bear.