"Lost" deer rediscovered in Indonesia

Yahoo News 10 Oct 08;

OSLO (Reuters) - A "lost" type of deer has been found on a remote mountainside in Indonesia's Sumatra island 80 years after the last confirmed sighting, experts said Friday.

The Sumatran muntjac, about the size of a large dog, was photographed and rescued from a hunter's snare 6,400 feet high in mountains of the Kerinci-Seblat National Park.

The species was originally discovered in 1914 but had not been seen since 1930, Flora & Fauna International, whose experts found the deer along with park officials, said in a statement.

Two more of the deer were later photographed elsewhere in the park.

The snared deer was photographed in 2002 but only recognized as a Sumatran muntjac this year, in a 2008 international "Red List" of endangered species, after scientists confirmed that it was a different species from the related red muntjac.

(Editing by Angus MacSwan)

More details on Legendary deer rediscovered in Sumatran national park on Wildlife Extra