This Rare Creature Was Lost For Nearly 30 Years Then Scientists Spotted Movement On A Camera Trap

this rare creature was lost for nearly 30 years then scientists spotted movement on a camera trap [Music] deep in the forest of vietnam scientists are patiently waiting to catch sight of the silver-backed chevrotane the creature in question hasn't been seen for nearly 30 years and is so rare that scientists fear it could be almost extinct but just when it seems that all hope might be lost a movement in the woods triggers a camera trap you may not have heard of the silverback chevrotane also known as the trigalis versicolor or vietnamese mouse deer it was first described by the british zoologist oldfield thomas in 1910 when four specimens were found near the southern vietnamese city of natrang however they've since proved pretty elusive as a species back when the silver back chevrotine was discovered scientists noted a unique slate gray sheen running through its rump this along with some distinctive markings on the throat set the species apart from the more prevalent lesser chevrotan however after these initial sightings the trail on the animal went cold for decades little was known about the silverback chevrotane the information we did have on the creature was a description of its appearance the mysterious animal resembles a small deer but it's no bigger than a rabbit and it sports distinctive two-tone fur which results in a silvery sheen given the unusual appearance of the silverback chevrotain it's perhaps easy to see how the animal earned its vietnamese mouse deer nickname but it's not actually related to either of those two creatures instead they're ungulates or hoofed animals and they weigh less than 10 pounds which makes them the smallest of their species in the world one particularly curious thing about the appearance of the silverback chevrotane is its tusk-like incisors these are particularly long in males given the fact that chevrotains have no antlers or horns it's believed that they may use these fangs when competing for mates and territory the few specimens of the silverback chevrotane that scientists have obtained were found in the coastal forest near noctrang it's been theorized that the animals prefer dry habitats like thorn scrubs as opposed to vietnam's wetter tropical forests that's because they've never actually been spotted in the latter the dry habitats that the silverback chevrotane have been found in are a rarity in the region andrew tilker is a biologist that specializes in the wildlife of southeast asia and he talked about the animal surroundings in a 2019 interview with national geographic he said although such forests are not common there are parts of vietnam that remind me of my home state of texas but while scientists believe that they may have narrowed down a habitat for the silverback chevrotane the creature remained elusive after the initial specimens of the animal were obtained there were no more sightings for 80 years when russian scientists seized a further example from vietnamese hunters the russian obtained silverback chevrotain proved to be a one-off though and for nearly three decades there were no further sightings of the animal as a result little is known about the unusual creature this makes it one of scientists most wanted animals in the world alongside similar evasive species such as attenborough's long beak echidna and the pondicherry shark when it comes to so-called lost species like the silverback chevrotane conservationists know very little it's not even clear where such creatures can be found let alone how many of them are left in existence with that in mind the international union for the conservation of nature lists the silverback chevrotane as data deficient that's because there's not enough information to determine if they're extinct endangered or otherwise because scientists know so little about the silverback chevrotane it's not clear what kind of threats they face or how to protect them it's believed that the animals may be preyed upon by pythons wild dogs and leopards however there's also some fear that they fall victims to snares left by hunters so in the nearly 30 years that followed the last sighting of the silverback chevrotain there was some fear that the animal may have been pushed close to extinction as a result the race was on to locate the lost species before it was too late that's where global wildlife conservation stepped in adding the creature to its list of the 25 most wanted creatures global wildlife conservation is an organization that works to retain and restore biodiversity its work is particularly focused on the forgotten animals that are facing extinction but are often overlooked and it's also concerned with locating lost species like the silverback chevrotane the group has put together a list of 1 1200 types of plants and animals that have become missing to science they've gone unseen for a number of years and could potentially be close to extinction so in order to save these species the global wildlife conservation organization set out to locate them in order to find the lost species global wildlife conservation teamed up with over 100 scientists to scour some of the world's most remote locations these included the dry coastal forest near natrang where it was believed the silverback chevrotain could be found and andrew tilker who works with global wildlife conservation formed part of the team on the animals trail the exact places where the silverback chevrotain specimens had been found hadn't been recorded back in 1910 as a result tilker and his team had some investigating to do so in their search for the lost species they spoke to local forest experts and hunters to determine whether they'd spotted the animal in the area the location where the silverback chevrotain had previously been found lies within the greater animates eco region the area takes its name from the animates range a mountain chain that runs down the border of laos and vietnam and it provides habitats for some of the world's rarest animals amazingly several of the rare creatures that call the greater animates home have only been discovered in fairly recent times this includes the saula a species of wild cattle that's been nicknamed the asian unicorn it was only identified in 1992 and is believed to be one of the rarest creatures in the world however due to the prevalence of poaching throughout the greater animates the region is far from a safe place of sanctuary for many creatures that's because hunters use wire snares to catch prey the devices are cheap but they're also brutal snagging any creature that walks the forest floor without discrimination poaching in vietnam is fueled by the popularity of bushmeat throughout east asia but the use of wire snares has caused animals to disappear from some areas completely this issue has been described as empty forest syndrome and many animals in the greater animates teeter on the brink of extinction as a result given the sensitive nature of the poaching issue in vietnam scientists would have to tread carefully when approaching hunters in the area so they spent time gaining their trust and eventually the global wildlife conservation team got locals on board with their search for the silverback chevrotane anne nagaian led the expedition on behalf of global wildlife conservation and he said that locals were fully aware of the issues facing animals in the area the expert told national geographic people have become very concerned about how much wildlife has vanished in the past five to ten years they know it's because of overhunting and the use of snares in their interview with villages and forest rangers nagayan and his team pieced together potential clues to locate the silverback chevrotane some locals spoke about seeing gray chevrotains which seemed to match the description of the lost species so there appeared to be hope that the animal was not yet extinct with the help of locals the global wildlife conservation team identified parts of the forest where there'd been recent suspected silverback chevrotain sightings in these areas camera traps were established with the hope that they could collect evidence of the elusive animal's existence in total scientists set up three camera traps in the low-lying forests for five months the devices were poised to capture a sighting of the mysterious silverback chevrotane and though the global wildlife conservation team had no way of knowing what they would uncover they would not be disappointed with the results over the course of the five month period the cameras captured a total of 72 significant events according to the guardian scientists subsequently established a further 29 traps in the hopes of replicating the success of the first three this led to another 208 independent events being recorded much to the delight of conservationists the reason scientists were so pleased with the findings is because the camera traps did indeed find proof that the silverback chevrotain was still in existence the first set of cameras captured 275 photos of the lost species while the second lot recorded 1881 images over the five month period footage that global wildlife conservation obtained through its camera traps included evidence of the silverback chevrotain grazing on the forest floor judging from the data the animals seemed to be solitary creatures and walked cautiously on their hoof tips meanwhile it's not clear how many of the animals were captured on film throughout the study the images captured by global wildlife conservation cameras marked the first time in 30 years that the silverback chevrotane have been sighted in the wild the animal's rediscovery was made public in 2019 through a press release posted on the global wildlife conservation website it also appeared in a scientific paper published in the nature ecology and evolution journal in a statement given as part of the global wildlife conservation press release nagayan revealed his reaction to finally locating the elusive animal he said we had no idea what to expect so i was surprised and overjoyed when we checked the camera traps and saw photographs of a chevrotain with silver flanks nagayan who was also studying for his phd at the leibniz institute for zoo and wildlife research in germany added for so long this species has seemingly only existed as part of our imagination discovering that it is indeed still out there is the first step in ensuring we don't lose it again and we're moving quickly now to figure out how to best protect it hongmin duke is the head of the department of zoology at vietnam's southern institute of ecology and he also expressed his joy at the breakthrough the expert said the rediscovery of the silverback chevrotane provides big hope for the conservation of biodiversity especially threatened species in vietnam min duke added that finding the silverback chevrotain had inspired the conservation community to invest more efforts into the region he explained this also encourages us together with relevant and international partners to devote time and effort to further investigation and conservation of vietnam's biodiversity heritage after establishing that silverback chevrotains were still in existence global wildlife conservation aimed to find out more about the size of its population and how stable it was as a species they also hope to learn more about the distribution of the animal and determine what threats it faced in order to gather more data on the silverback chevrotane a team from global wildlife conservation set out on the first comprehensive survey of the animals as part of their study the experts establish camera traps in two more areas the information gleaned from this endeavor will then be used to establish how they can help sustain the animal's existence into the future barney long is the senior director of species conservation at global wildlife conservation and in the statement posted to the organization's website he expressed his joy at the rediscovery of the silverback chevrotain however long warned that there's still work to be done if the animal was to be saved from extinction long said it's an amazing feat to go from complete lack of knowledge of the wildlife of the greater animates 25 years ago to now having this question mark of the silverback chevrotain resolved but the work is only beginning with the rediscovery and initial protection measures that have been put in place now we need to identify not just a few individuals on camera traps but one or two sites with sizable populations so we can actually protect and restore the species