It ’s no secret that rainforest are among some of the most biodiverse habitat in the world , but as anyone who has inspect one will tell you , that does n’t mean you ’re going to be bumping into rarefied wildlife leave alone , good , and center . Well , unless you ’re hiking in Sumatran disinvest rabbit territory , patently .
In June 2022 , a group of tramper were doing what hiker do best when they literally stumbled upon one of the world ’s rarest cony hopping at their base . It was a Sumatran stripy rabbit , Nesolagus netscheri , and it ’s only been reported a smattering of meter in the last 50 year .
These rabbits live up to their name in having a watermelon’eqsue chronological succession of sinister stripes across their rusty - non-white fur . Their preferred habitat is remote corners of the woodland and as nocturnal fauna , they ’re only surface - side when it’sdark , so it ’s perhaps unsurprising that so few have been seen in the last half century .
That same fact get it all the more incredible that this golden group of hikers happen upon a Sumatran striped rabbit without meaning to . The curious critter appears rather non - plussed by the fortune get together , hopping around their feet under the hiker ’s torchlight .
When photos of a Sumatran striped hare were snapped in 2007 , it wasreportedto be only the third meter these brute had been photographed . The first image go out back to 1998 in Kerinci Seblat National Park , and the 2d from Bukit Barisan National Park in 2000 .
An offend Sumatran striped rabbit was fascinate by a farmer back in 2021 during a sudden deluge of a nearby river . Bar a pocket-sized injury to its wing the rabbit was well and able-bodied to be successfully returned to the forest at a distant location that was choose establish on camera trap information .
“ Very little is known about this beast , other than that it demonstrate a marked druthers for mossy hill and submontane forest , ” order Deborah Martyr , Fauna & Flora consultant for the Tiger Protection & Conservation Units at Kerinci Seblat National Park , in astatement . “ The only specimen from Sumatra engagement back to the Dutch colonial period – and are in the Netherlands , not Indonesia . ”
Just goes to show that a sighting of a healthy Sumatran striped cony is a rare , felicitous , and hoppy sight to lay eyes on , and one we hope continues to be made for many year to come .
[ H / T : Forrest Galante ]
