30年来首次发现的越南鼠鹿

30年来首次发现的难以捉摸的越南鼠鹿

A tiny creature that looks part-deer, part-mouse has been spotted for the first time in nearly three decades in southern Vietnam, researchers announced Monday.

周一，研究人员宣布，越南南部近三十年来首次发现了一种看起来又像鹿又像老鼠的小动物。

Feared-extinct, the silver-backed chevrotain hadn’t been seen since 1990 when a hunter in central Vietnam killed one and donated the specimen to scientists.

银背麝香鹿几近灭绝，自1990年在越南中部的一个猎人杀死了一只，并把标本捐献给了科学家以来，就再也没有出现过。

Photos of the elusive rabbit-sized animal tiptoeing in the wild were published in scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution on Monday, following a five-month-long expedition by a team of wildlife experts.

本周一，一组野生动物专家经过五个月的野外考察后，在科学期刊《自然生态与进化》上发表了这组照片。

“For so long this species has seemingly only existed as part of our imagination,” said An Nguyen, a conservation scientist for the nonprofit Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) and expedition team leader.

“长久以来，这个物种似乎只是我们想象的一部分，”非营利全球野生动物保护(GWC)和探险队领队的保育科学家An Nguyen说。

“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 best to protect it,” Nguyen added in a press release.

他在一份新闻稿中补充说“发现它确实还在那里，是确保我们不会再失去它的第一步，我们现在正迅速行动，找出保护它的最佳方式。”

Also known as the Vietnamese mouse-deer, the creatures typically weigh less than 10 pounds and have a silver sheen on their back and two tiny fangs. They are the world’s smallest ungulate, or hoofed animal.

这种动物也被称为越南鼠鹿，通常体重不到10磅，背部有银色光泽，有两个小尖牙。它们是世界上最小的有蹄动物。

Scientists believed the species had fallen prey to habitat loss and hunting as part of the illegal wildlife trade and it was placed on GWC’s list of “25 most wanted” lost species.

科学家们认为，作为非法野生动物交易的一部分，这些物种已经成为栖息地丧失和狩猎的牺牲品，并被列入全球野生动物委员会“25个最想要”的物种名单。

Researchers with GWC, the Southern Institute of Ecology in Vietnam and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany set up more than two dozen camera traps in the wild and captured nearly 2,000 images of a handful of the mysterious mammals.

GWC、越南南部生态研究所和德国莱布尼茨动物园和野生动物研究所的研究人员在野外设置了二十多个摄像头，拍摄了近2000张这种神秘哺乳动物的照片。

“The rediscovery of the silver-backed chevrotain provides big hope for the conservation of biodiversity, especially threatened species, in Vietnam,” said Hoang Minh Duc, head of the Southern Institute of Ecology’s Department of Zoology.

“银背麝香鹿的重新发现，为保护越南的生物多样性，尤其是濒危物种，带来了很大的希望，”南方生态研究所(Southern Institute of Ecology)动物学系主任黄明德(Hoang Minh Duc)说。

Scientists will begin new camera trap surveys in two additional areas in an attempt to determine how large the population is to better understand threats to its survival.

科学家们将在另外两个地区开始新的摄像机调查，试图确定种群的数量，以便更好地了解对其生存的威胁。