The Somali elephant, known for its interesting long snout, has been found in the African wild for the first time in more than 50 years.
Considered ‘lost to science’ since 1968, the small mammal has been discovered in the rocky landscape of the Horn of Africa.
After observations by local residents in the African country of Djibouti, scientists set skins for the critters consisting of peanut butter, oatmeal and yeast extract.
After collecting several specimens for further study, the team reports that the Somali elephant survived after fears that it was extinct.
The insect food is neither an elephant nor a squirrel, although it is more related to the former.
Also known as a sengi, it is a distant relation to aardvarks and manatees such as elephants, despite the size of a mouse.
For half a century, many believed that the Somali Sengi was lost. But the thin, proboscis mammal lives quietly away from humans in rocky areas of the Horn of Africa, scientists said
The discovery of the creature in the wild may kick off a new era of understanding about the species, which has the scientific name Elephantulus revoili.
“Sengi biology is a science of passion,” said Steven Heritage, a research scientist at the Duke University Lemur Center and lead author of a research paper on the project.
‘It takes someone who is motivated by passion for sengis to go out in search of this lost species.
“They are not known animals, but when you see them, it is impossible not to worship them.”
Since losing to science, just 39 preserved specimens kept in the natural history museums of the world were the only physical evidence that it ever existed.
The Global Wildlife Conservation group even included it on the list of ’25 most wanted lost species’.
Almost everything that has been published about the species is derived from anatomical studies of historical specimens.
Researchers set a total of 1,259 steps at 12 locations, and lured the skins with a concoction of peanut butter, oatmeal and yeast
Last year, a research mission began searching for various species of sengis in Djibouti, the small Horn of Africa coastline bordering Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The team completed more than 1,250 traps filled with the delicious murmurs in 12 areas in Djibouti.
The team was buoyed by talking to local communities, where people could easily recognize the animals from photos.
The range of species extends beyond Somalia to Djibouti on the Horn of Africa and possibly even Ethiopia
After opening the skins at one of the locations, the researchers received a pleasant surprise.
They caught a Somali sengi, distinguished by its fur of fur on its tail, in the steepest staircase they set in the rugged, rocky, rocky landscape.
‘When we opened the first staircase and saw the small tuft of hair at the tip of the tail, we just looked at each other and we could not believe it,’ Heritage said.
‘A number of small mammal studies since the 1970s did not find the Somali sengi in Djibouti – it was serendipitous that it happened to us so quickly.’
In total, the team saw 12 sengis during their expedition and received the first photos and video of live Somali sengis for scientific documentation
In total, the team saw 12 sengis during their expedition and received the first photos and video of live Somali sengis for scientific documentation.
They were not witnesses of imminent threats to their habitat, which is arid and largely uninhabitable for human activities such as development or agriculture.
Their findings prove that the Somali sengi is currently widespread and lives far beyond the borders of its original Somali home.
The research team, which is planning a new expedition to learn more about the species, believes the sengi could now live in Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
And although they can not estimate the size of the population, they believe that the sengi is flourishing.
‘All the locals knew this, so it could in no way be rare,’ Heritage said.
‘And its habitats are not threatened by agriculture and human development, in a very arid environment where there is no predictable future for agriculture.’
The team was also able to make a recommendation to the IUCN Red List – a comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species – to classify the Somali elephant shocked after ‘worst worries’.
The study is detailed in a study published in the journal PeerJ.
The Somali elephant is not the only elephant species, and there are about 20 in total.
Elephants are recorded to reach speeds of 17 miles per hour (28.8 km per hour).
They mainly eat insects, spiders, millipedes, millipedes and earthworms and use their noses to find prey and their tongues to put small food into their mouths, just like an anteater.
Some elephants also feed on small amounts of plant material, especially new leaves, seeds, and small fruits.
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