The silver - backed chevrotain , also called the Vietnamese computer mouse - deer , is elusive . It ’s so elusive that scientist had feared it was extinct after none had been photograph for decennary . But asThe Washington Postreports , the first images have of the mammal in nearly 30 years show that the species is still alive in the woods of Vietnam .
No larger than little dog , chevrotainsare thetiniest ungulate , or hoofed creature , on Earth . They have lamia - like fangs and skinny leg that support their dead body . Silver - backed mouse deer are characterized by the silver sheen of their tawny coat .
The tiny population aboriginal to Vietnam has been devastated by poachers in late decennary . That , and the animal ’s natural shyness , make it incredibly unmanageable to take . Before this most recent sighting , the last time scientist had recorded one was in 1990 .
Global Wildlife Conservation , the Southern Institute of Ecology , and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research teamed up in hopes of documenting the lost species . Researchers interviewed house physician and authorities forest rangers in the Vietnamese city of Nha Trang about the silver - backed chevrotain , looking for tips on where to find one . occupier enounce that while population had been hit hard by hunting , the animals were still around .
Based on this local ecological cognition , scientist set up up three photographic camera traps in the Vietnamese Wood . In just five month , they becharm 275 photographs of the little shiner - deer . They then installed 29 additional television camera and snatch up 1881 new persona in that same length of clock time .
“ For so long this species has ostensibly only existed as part of our imagination , " Global Wildlife Conservation fellow preservation scientist An Nguyen said in astatement . " Discovering that it is , indeed , still out there , is the first whole step in ensuring we do n’t lose it again , and we ’re locomote apace now to image out how best to protect it . ”
Now that a atomic number 47 - back chevrotain universe has been locate , researchers be after to conduct the first - ever comprehensive survey of the species . Once the data is pile up , it will be used to build a plan for the species ' survival .
[ h / tThe Washington Post ]
