Red-crested tree rat resurfaces for the first time since 1898

Most people would run a mile if they found a rat sitting outside their front door.

But conservationists were delighted when this rare rodent came calling after more than a century away. The red-crested tree rat was a ‘lost’ species, unseen since 1898 – until one turned up at a nature reserve in South America.

‘He just shuffled up the handrail near where we were sitting and seemed totally unperturbed by all the excitement he was causing,’ said Lizzie Noble, a volunteer researcher at the El Dorado nature reserve in north Colombia.

It was feared the tree rat – Latin name santamartamys rufodorsalis – would never be seen again.

But after presenting itself to Ms Noble and her colleague, Simon McKeown, on May 4, it stayed for two hours and posed for pictures. The nocturnal rodent even allowed them to take close-ups snaps before wandering back into the forest.

‘We’re delighted to have rediscovered such a wonderful creature after just a month of volunteering,’ said Ms Noble, of Godalming in Surrey. ‘Clearly, the El Dorado reserve has many more exciting discoveries waiting for us.’


/Metro.co.uk/