Conservationists have captured the first camera trap images of the highly elusive Pemba blue duiker, a tiny antelope that lives in a remnant of native forest in the north of Zanzibar’s Pemba Island. Standing just 30 centimeters (12 inches) high at the shoulder, the Pemba blue duiker is possibly a subspecies of the blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) that lives on the African mainland. Around 20 camera traps — motion-activated cameras that automatically photograph passing animals — were placed in Pemba Island’s Ngezi Nature Forest Reserve at the end of January by ecologist Margherita Rinaldi, in collaboration with the Italy-based conservation group Istituto Oikos. They chose sites where highly experienced forest guards had detected near-invisible trails of the animals through thick undergrowth. The camera traps detected blue duikers across at least half of the 2,030-hectare (around 5,000-acre) reserve, Silvia Ceppi a scientific adviser to Oikos, told Mongabay. The images provide the first photographic evidence of the animals, which previously had not been officially documented in the forest for more than 20 years. “We’re just excited they’re there and well distributed,” Ceppi said. The team also found piles of duiker droppings, or scats, which could help determine the animals’ genetic makeup and reveal once and for all how distinct they are from the mainland population. It’s possible that blue duikers were introduced to Pemba more than a century ago, Ceppi said. It’s also possible they are a naturally occurring population that’s been isolated for millennia. Confirming the Pemba blue duiker as a subspecies…This article was originally published on Mongabay

From Conservation news via This RSS Feed.