The Kashmir musk deer is noted for its vampire-esque fangs and the extremely rare animal has turned up for the first time in about six decades.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) published a study in the journal Oryx with the help of researchers from Nuristan, Afghanistan and the University of Leeds, according to a press release. The team detailed five sightings: one male in the same spot three times and one female, once alone and once with her young.
The musk deer is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of endangered species, which is known to live in Afghanistan. The last recorded time anyone saw the fanged deer was when a Danish survey team was in the country 1948.
The extremely rare animals became endangered due mostly to habitat loss and poaching. Poachers and traffickers greatly covet the musk deer's scent glands, as they go for about $45,000/kilo in illegal black markets. Other species are also known to live in parts of Asia.
The musk deer have their fangs, which look like those of a saber tooth tiger, only smaller, for fighting off other males in their mating seasons.
"Musk deer are one of Afghanistan's living treasures," study co-author Peter Zahler, WCS deputy director of Asia programs, said in the release. "This rare species, along with better known wildlife such as snow leopards, are the natural heritage of this struggling nation. We hope that conditions will stabilize soon to allow WCS and local partners to better evaluate conservation needs of this species."
