Silver-backed Chevrotain

About this species

Size

Head and body about 48cm; tail about 5cm

Habitat

Dry, low-lying semi-deciduous forest

Range

Southern Vietnam

The Vietnam mouse-deer, also known as the silver-backed chevrotain, is an even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae known only from Vietnam. It was first described in 1910 by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas from four specimens collected at Nha Trang in Annam, and little is known about its distribution and ecology (Wikipedia, general species account).

After 1910 it was next reported in 1990 near Dak Rong and Buon Luoi in Gia Lai Province, and with hunting pressure and deforestation and no further wild reports it was feared extinct, until a 2019 camera-trap study confirmed its presence in dry low-lying forest in southern Vietnam. It has a rough coat with a striking double-tone coloration: reddish brown in front up to the shoulders and grey behind, separated by a buff line from white underparts, with a prominent silver line down the back. The 2019 evidence suggests it is diurnal and lives alone or in pairs.

Description: Wildlife of Vietnam guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)