For The First Time In 50 Years, An Elephant Shrew Has Been Discovered Aive

Even the list of endangered animals has grown in recent years, as several previously thought-to-be-extinct species have been found. If animal specialists saw rare sightings of very elusive animals like the clouded leopard and saki monkeys last year, a small and extremely adorable species suddenly resurfaced in the wild this year.

After being designated as a “lost species” for the past 50 years, the elephant shrew has been rediscovered. Elephant shrews have been spotted for the first time since 1968, when the last sightings were documented. During an expedition in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa, they were rediscovered.

The elusive species must have done a good job of hiding, since the explorers discovered an abundance of these animals in the region. The lovely little critters are also called as “sengi,” and they’re linked to elephants, as well as aardvarks and manatees, despite the fact that they’re neither shrews nor elephants. Their nostrils, in fact, reconstruct an elephant’s trunk. Of course, in tiny!

Watch the video below:

FOUND: What is related to an elephant but the size of a mouse, has hindlimbs built like a gazelle, & was lost to science since 1968? The Somali Sengi, an adorable elephant-shrew was recently rediscovered in Djibouti. @DukeLemurCenterhttps://t.co/xSZYutT0CT pic.twitter.com/NJZs0Kx21g

— Re:wild (@rewild) August 18, 2020