A mouse deer that was thought to have disappeared from the face of the earth has been spotted for the first time in 30 years.

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The curious-looking creature was caught in a forest in Vietnam by cameras placed at strategic points.

The sighting has been greeted with great excitement by conservationists around the world.

Ann Nguyen, a biologist, hailed the sighting, saying that it was the first step in ensuring that the species thought to be extinct is not lost.

"For so long, this species has seemingly only existed as part of our imagination, " Vietnamese biologist An Nguyen said.

"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. The results were amazing. I was overjoyed when we checked the camera traps and saw photographs of a chevrotain with silver flanks , " he added in a statement to media outlets.

The silver-backed chevrotain was last seen in the year 1990.

Conservationist Andrew Tilker has warned that the sighting does not meen that the species is not threatened with extinction.

Bio diversity experts have warned that scores of species face extinction because of the activities of human beings.