(CNN) A tiny deer-like creature about the size of a rabbit has been photographed in the wild for the first time in three decades in southern Vietnam, delighting conservationists who feared the species was extinct.

The silver-backed chevrotain, also called the Vietnamese mouse deer, was last recorded more than 25 years ago when a team of Vietnamese and Russian researchers obtained a dead chevrotain from a hunter.

The animals were found in area where hunting with wire traps in common place.

"For so long, this species has seemingly only existed as part of our imagination," said Vietnamese biologist An Nguyen, an associate conservation scientist with Global Wildlife Conservation, a nongovernmental organization, and a PhD student with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.

"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," he said in a statement.

Scientists had thought the tiny creature, which had been among a list of 25 "most wanted" lost species compiled by Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC), had fallen victim to habitat loss and intensive hunting for the illegal wildlife trade. Wire snares are widely used in the region.

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