Treasure in Truong Son range: Extremely rare animal species, found nowhere else in the world, IUCN urgent protection!

Scientists say this is the rarest and least known animal in the world.

That animal is the Truong Son Striped Rabbit (scientific name: Nesolagus timminsi ). The world's biologists consider the Truong Son Striped Rabbit to be one of the rarest and least known ancient animals in the world.

According to data from the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the Truong Son striped rabbit is an extremely rare animal in the world, found only in the Truong Son range.

Photo of a baby Truong Son striped rabbit taken at Pu Mat National Park. (Photo: Nikolai L. Orlov/Researchgate).

This species is distributed along the Vietnam-Laos border in the northern and central Annamite Mountains. They are found from Pu Mat National Park (Nghe An Province) to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Quang Binh).

In 2019, the IUCN Red List classified the Truong Son striped rabbit as EN (Endangered), facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. Five years later, in 2024, the IUCN re-evaluated this rare animal species of Vietnam. Details are presented below.

Treasure of Truong Son range: Mysterious creatures of the great forest

Not only is this animal rare, it also baffles international biologists because many of its biological characteristics are unknown.

To get the rare information about this species, people had to set camera traps in all the reserves and national parks in the Truong Son range, as well as spend thousands of nights monitoring to know about this nocturnal animal.

An image of a striped rabbit in Pu Mat National Park. (Photo: Nikolai L. Orlov/Researchgate).

This animal was first discovered in 1995. Because of its nocturnal nature and its daytime resting in burrows dug by other animals, there is very little scientific research and human understanding of this animal.

To date, scientists still do not fully understand the habitat, diet, reproduction, predators, and ecological impact of the Truong Son striped rabbit (such as its role in seed dispersal).

To date, no studies have focused on the ecology of the Annamite Striped Rabbit, according to the IUCN . However, some general characteristics of its natural history can be inferred from camera trap records and village reports. The species occurs mainly in moist broadleaf evergreen forests between 50 and 1,183 metres above sea level, where there is little or no dry season.

The Truong Son striped rabbit looks very similar to its sister species, the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri). Both are ancient surviving mammals in the world.

One distinguishing feature of this rabbit species is that it has gray fur with seven black or dark brown stripes on its head, and a tiger-like body. The adult body length ranges from 35 to 40cm, and it weighs about 5kg. Compared to members of the Lepus genus, the Truong Son striped rabbit has relatively short ears, tail and legs, Animaldiversity said.

A Truong Son striped rabbit was photographed by a camera trap. (Source: SGGP).

There are three reasons why the Annamite Striped Rabbit is listed on the ICUN Red List: habitat loss (due to human agriculture), logging, and hunting (from widespread snares throughout the Annamite forests). Although there is no evidence of targeted trade in the species, it is certainly hunted as part of the illegal wildlife trade.

Due to the lack of information suggesting that this species is of high value to the wildlife trade, it is likely that when captured, it is often taken to local live wildlife markets or used as a staple food.

Good news from IUCN

In an effort to discover the Truong Son striped rabbit, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) of Germany and the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE) of Vietnam discovered encouraging signs from this rare animal species in 2021.

Accordingly, the use of camera traps has detected the Truong Son striped rabbit appearing in Bidoup Nui Ba National Park (south of the Truong Son range). This is a huge extension compared to the previously known range of the striped rabbit, which only covered from the northern region to the center of the Truong Son range, the Electronic Journal of Forest Protection and Environment reported.

The fact that the camera traps were placed at an altitude of around 1,500 – 1,900 metres also speaks to the record high altitude at which this species can live. All of this shows that we still know very little about this rare animal.

In 2024, the good news came when IUCN re-evaluated the number of Truong Son striped rabbits and issued the latest announcement when classifying Truong Son striped rabbits as LD (Largely depleted).

This means that the species has a Species Recovery Score of 33%. Although it is no longer listed as EN (Endangered), the IUCN still calls for urgent protection because without continued conservation, the striped rabbit is expected to become extinct within 10 years due to continued hunting and land clearing.