<p>A very rare species of small, deer-like animal thought to be on the verge of extinction has been spotted in the northwestern jungle of Vietnam for the first time in nearly 30 years.</p>.<p>Known as the Silver-backed Chevrotain or Mouse deer, a specimen was last recorded in 1990, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.</p>.<p>The species, Tragulus Versicolor, was first described in 1910 based on several animals found near Nha Trang, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.</p>.<p>With no confirmed sightings since 1990, experts assumed the species must have been pushed to the brink of extinction by hunting.</p>.<p>However Vietnamese biologist An Nguyen, who works with Global Wildlife Conservation and is a PhD student at the Leibnitz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, had been wondering for years whether the Silver-backed Chevrotain might still be holding on somewhere.</p>.<p>Working with colleagues Barney Long and Andrew Tilker, the experts got together with local villagers to sift through reported sightings.</p>.<p>Some were consistent enough with the Silver-backed Chevrotain to justify putting up more than 30 motion-activated cameras in nearby forested habitats.</p>.<p>"The results were amazing. I was overjoyed when we checked the camera traps and saw photographs of a chevrotain with silver flanks," said Nguyen.</p>.<p>Tilker cautioned in a blog post however that "just because we found this species relatively easily doesn't mean it is not threatened".</p>.<p>Forests in Southeast Asia are under tremendous pressure from growing populations and development "so we need to get ahead of the curve" on conservation, Tilker added.</p>.<p>In May, a United Nations body of biodiversity experts, known as IPBES, issued a landmark report warning that up to one million species face the risk of extinction due to humanity's impact on the planet.</p>
<p>A very rare species of small, deer-like animal thought to be on the verge of extinction has been spotted in the northwestern jungle of Vietnam for the first time in nearly 30 years.</p>.<p>Known as the Silver-backed Chevrotain or Mouse deer, a specimen was last recorded in 1990, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.</p>.<p>The species, Tragulus Versicolor, was first described in 1910 based on several animals found near Nha Trang, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.</p>.<p>With no confirmed sightings since 1990, experts assumed the species must have been pushed to the brink of extinction by hunting.</p>.<p>However Vietnamese biologist An Nguyen, who works with Global Wildlife Conservation and is a PhD student at the Leibnitz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, had been wondering for years whether the Silver-backed Chevrotain might still be holding on somewhere.</p>.<p>Working with colleagues Barney Long and Andrew Tilker, the experts got together with local villagers to sift through reported sightings.</p>.<p>Some were consistent enough with the Silver-backed Chevrotain to justify putting up more than 30 motion-activated cameras in nearby forested habitats.</p>.<p>"The results were amazing. I was overjoyed when we checked the camera traps and saw photographs of a chevrotain with silver flanks," said Nguyen.</p>.<p>Tilker cautioned in a blog post however that "just because we found this species relatively easily doesn't mean it is not threatened".</p>.<p>Forests in Southeast Asia are under tremendous pressure from growing populations and development "so we need to get ahead of the curve" on conservation, Tilker added.</p>.<p>In May, a United Nations body of biodiversity experts, known as IPBES, issued a landmark report warning that up to one million species face the risk of extinction due to humanity's impact on the planet.</p>