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What is the silver backed mouse deer in Vietnam? What do you look like?

According to foreign media reports, some scientists believe that the earth is on the edge of the 'sixth species extinction', and animals are dying at an alarming rate. The article published in nature & middot; ecology and evolution on the 11th finally brought us good news.

It is reported that near Nha Trang, a city in southeastern Vietnam, researchers took pictures of silver backed chevrotain for the first time. Before that, the creature had not appeared in human vision for 30 years. People can only learn about this animal from a few specimens and local reports.

On November 11 local time, the magazine Nature & middot; ecology and evolution published an article saying that the extremely rare silver backed mouse deer was photographed in Vietnam. Source: screenshot of CNN's social media account.

In recent years, local people have reported seeing silver backed mouse deer several times. Therefore, Ruan an, a scientist of the World Wildlife Conservation Association, and his colleagues, after interviewing residents in three provinces of Vietnam, speculated that silver backed mouse deer may still exist in the forest near Nha Trang.

Therefore, they set up tracking cameras at three locations in early 2018. When they retrieved the camera in April 2018, all three cameras captured the picture of silver backed mouse deer.

After that, the researchers increased the number of cameras to 29. From April to July 2018, 15 of the 29 cameras captured the picture of silver backed mouse deer.

Their findings suggest that the number of silver backed mouse deer may be large, at least in this small area. However, the researchers stressed that more research is necessary to investigate whether there are other silver backed mouse deer populations in Vietnam.

"For so long, this species seems to exist only in our imagination," said an Nguyen, a Vietnamese biologist. "Finding it is still there is the first step to ensure that we will not lose it again. We are now moving quickly to find the best way to protect it."

It is reported that the silver backed mouse deer, also known as the Vietnamese mouse deer (Tragulus versicolor), is about the same size as a rabbit, but looks like an animal between a mouse and a deer. They are one of the smallest members of the hoofed mammal family. They are shy and lonely. They seem to walk on their toes and have two small fangs. They usually weigh less than 4.5kg.

As the silver backed mouse deer is quite rare, the World Conservation Union lists its conservation status as' lack of data '.

The researchers said that the silver backed mouse deer was first described by scientists in 1910, while it was last seen in 1990, nearly 30 years ago. It was previously thought that local large-scale trap hunting may have pushed the species to the brink of extinction.

James Watson, director of the biodiversity and Conservation Science Center of the University of Queensland, said that although the silver backed mouse deer population is small and scattered, it is still likely to face extinction, but this discovery is' warm '.

Professor Watson believes that the ecology of silver backed mouse deer means that if key threats can be eliminated, the population is likely to recover.

Watson said: 'they reproduce very fast, so the good news is that if the reduction of habitat and hunting can be controlled, the number of silver backed mouse deer is likely to recover.