(TNS) — Here’s some more good news from nature.
A species that went missing (so to speak) more than a century ago has recently been spotted in the wild again.
According to The Cool Down, the Omiltemi cottontail rabbit was “lost” to the forests of Mexico about 120 years ago. This, of course, led researchers to believe that the species had gone extinct.
However, the same Cool Down article reports how — to the extreme delight of the country’s scientists — locals around the animals’ home of Sierra Madre del Sur have claimed for years that they’ve regularly hunted the species. So, a team led by ecologist José Alberto Almazán-Catalán set up numerous cameras in the region in the hopes of finding one.
And after five years, it finally happened: A member of the species was at long last captured on video.
“I was completely amazed and very happy to have had the opportunity to see one,” Almazán-Catalán informs the publication.
“Found only in the conifer forests of Mexico’s Sierra Madre del Sur mountains, these little rabbits have smaller ears and short black tails, much different from other cottontails, whose tails are fluffy and wait,” explains a Re:wild Instagram post of the video.
The post adds: “Scientists hope to continue to work with local communities to protect Omiltemi Cottontail Rabbits and ensure this species is never lost to science again!”
The Travel states how the Omiltemi is just the latest in a series of recently rediscovered species: A separate Travel article notes how a mammal not seen since 1914 was spotted in South America’s Atlantic Forest.
