

A camera-trap photo of two Roosevelt's muntjacs at Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in the central province of Thanh Hoa / PHOTO COURTESY OF XUAN LIEN MANAGEMENT BOARD

A deer thought to have become extinct 85 years ago has been found at a nature reserve in Vietnam's central province of Thanh Hoa.

A pair of Roosevelt's Muntjacs, also known as Roosevelt's barking deer, was caught on a camera trap set up by scientists surveying barking deer populations at the Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Thuong Xuan District, the reserve’s management said Wednesday.

It said the scientists also collected the animals' feces and got their DNA tested at the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources in Hanoi, and found them to be a match for a DNA sample kept at the American Museum of Natural History.

First discovered in Laos, the deer was believed to be extinct since 1929, according to the management.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as “data deficient,” saying that due to taxonomic uncertainty it is impossible to ascertain its status and distribution.

The survey was done by scientists from the Hanoi Vietnam National University's Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies in cooperation with the reserve from 2012 to 2014.

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