Legendary deer rediscovered in Sumatran national park

 

October 2008 - The Sumatran muntjac, a 'lost' species of deer, has been rediscovered in the remote mountains of western Sumatra, Indonesia, nearly a century after its last positive sighting. A team working for Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the Kerinci-Seblat National Park Tiger Protection found the muntjac (Latin name Muntiacus montanus) when they rescued it from a hunter's snare on an anti-poaching patrol 6400ft above sea level in Sumatra's Kerinci-Seblat National Park. The Sumatran muntjac was originally discovered in 1914 but had not been seen since 1930. It is believed that the type specimen' for the deer, originally filed at the Raffles Museum in Singapore, was lost when the museum was evacuated as the Japanese prepared to invade Singapore in early 1942, until its recent discovery at the National History Museum.

Legendary deer rediscovered in Sumatran national park