World's Smallest Mouse Deer Spotted in India's Chhattisgarh

The Indian Mouse Deer, also known as the Spotted Chevrotain, is a rare diminutive species of wild deer which looks like a mix of deer, mouse, and pig. It is found in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Its conservation status, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), is Least Concern.

A rare species of the world's smallest Indian mouse deer, locally known as 'Turre', was spotted for the first time in five years in jungles of the tribal region Dantewada in India's Chhattisgarh state.

Local residents noticed the mouse deer had minor injuries on its neck and leg, and immediately informed the forest department.

"After consultation with the veterinary doctors of Raipur Jungle Safari, local vet, Dr Manoj Verma, treated the female mouse deer who was kept under observation for two to three days. We released it in the jungle when we felt it was right," the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sandeep Balaga told the Times of India daily.

The two-year-old mouse deer weighed about 3kg and was about 10 inches high, Balaga said, adding the smallest deer species in the world is rarely seen because of its low population.

"We are seeing this animal after a gap of five years - and that only because of its injury. Even though the cause of injury could not be ascertained, it might be natural,” Balaga said.

The Indian mouse deer has often been in the news because of numerous incidents of hunting for bushmeat.