Despite its name and mouse-like appearance, the Kangaroo rat is neither a rat or a mouse. The Kangaroo rat is a member of the heteromyidae family, with its closest relative being the pocket gopher.

Imam al-Baqir (PBUH) said: The love of us (Ahlul Bayt) is Faith and the hatred of us is infidelity.

The silver-backed chevrotain is the first mammal re-discovered under a Global Wildlife Conservation program called the Search for Lost Species. This initiative seeks to find some 1,200 animal and plant species that have gone missing to science—and work to protect them. Many of these species are not exciting or charismatic, says Tilker, and are in need of someone to pay attention.

The long-term survival of this species depends on a reduction in snaring and poaching. While Vietnam takes this very seriously, it is a difficult problem to tackle, says Tilker.

"The rediscovery of the silver-backed chevrotain provides big hope for the conservation of biodiversity, especially threatened species, in Vietnam," said Hoang Minh Duc, head of the Southern Institute of Ecology Department of Zoology.

The researchers cannot yet say how many silver-backed chevrotains are left or where exactly they live; their conservation status remains "data deficient" due to a lack of study. If one or two sites with sizable, stable populations can be identified, then protection measures such as education of local people and anti-poaching patrols can be put in place, Tilker says.

Imam al-Baqir (PBUH) said: The best means by which servants can obtain nearness to Allah, Mighty and Glorious, is the obedience to Allah, the obedience to His Messenger, and the obedience to those charged with (spiritual) authority.

There are nine species of the chevrotain in South and Southeast Asia, and one species in central Africa. Chevrotains are the smallest ungulates in the world.

Next, the scientists plan to place camera traps in another dry forest region of Vietnam. Eventually they hope to conduct the first-ever comprehensive survey of the species, to assess its population size and distribution.

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said: He who is not able to do any good unto us (Ahlul Bayt) then he may do good to our pious adherents; and he who is not able to visit us, he may visit our righteous followers by which the reward of visiting us (pilgrimage) will be recorded for him.

The Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him and His Progeny) said: Train your children in three things: the love of your Prophet, the love of his progeny, and recitation of the Quran.

Besides the silver-backed chevrotain, wire snare poaching has pushed other endemic deer-like species to the brink of extinction, including the saola and the large-antlered muntjac.

This illegal hunting, or poaching, is driven by demand for bushmeat in East Asia—and has led to the disappearance of animals in intact habitats in Vietnam. This conundrum is known as "empty forest syndrome" because wire snare traps can indiscriminately catch and kill nearly everything that…
Read more

Malik-ibn-Anas said about the virtue of Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH): No eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no heart (soul) has ever been stricken that there can (contemporaneously) be anybody higher than (Imam) Jafar Sadiq (PBUH) from the point of virtue, knowledge, worship, and piety.

Jabir said: I asked him: O Messenger of Allah will his followers avail of him during his occultation? He answered: Yes. By the One Who appointed me to prophethood, they will seek brightness from his light and will avail by devotion in his absence the same as the availing of people from the (glow of) sun when clouds cover it...