Two of the world’s most endangered mammals living in the wild, the Visayan Warty Pig and Spotted Deer, have been photographed for the first time.
A team of British scientists used specialist photography to capture the species in the almost impenetrable, dense forests on the island of Negros, central Philippines.
Biologists say the rare, diminutive pigs are almost invisible to the eye due to the thickness of the forest.
During their “very tough” expedition earlier this month, the team, climbed nearly 5000 feet (1,500m) as they set up 20 “camera traps”.
While allowing the team of scientists, aided by local experts from the Philippines, to maintain their “minimum impact” expedition rules, it also meant they could photograph the animals in their natural environment without scaring them away.
The team spent more than 4000 hours monitoring the traps during their two-week trek, in a bid to capture the creatures.
The “interior” of the forest where the animals are known to live measures only about 2000 feet in length, on a plateau, and was virtually impossible to access.
Such was area’s isolation that the researchers described it as being akin to “Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World".
Dr Neil D'Cruze, who led the research, said on Thursday that the traps allowed images to be taken without disturbing the local environment.
"The traps allowed us to see animals we knew were there, but never laid eyes on during our time in the forest," he said.
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