The Deer the Size of a Rabbit
A tiny deer-like animal with silver flanks and little fangs hadn't been seen by scientists for nearly thirty years. A camera trap caught it walking past.
What was reported
The silver-backed chevrotain, or Vietnamese mouse-deer, is a small hoofed animal about the size of a rabbit, with a silvery back and, in males, small tusk-like teeth. It was described in 1910 from a few specimens and last recorded by scientists in 1990.
In 2018 and 2019, researchers set camera traps in forests near Nha Trang, where villagers said they'd seen grey chevrotains. The cameras captured hundreds of photographs of them.
Explanations offered
Chevrotains are shy and nocturnal, and the forests where they live are hard to survey. Snares set for other animals are the biggest threat to them.
- When
- Lost in 1990; photographed in 2019
- Where
- Near Nha Trang, Khánh Hòa, Vietnam
- Witnesses
- Camera traps, and local villagers
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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