A team of Zaira rangers, a mammalogist from the University of Melbourne and a university professor from the National University of the Solomon Islands, took the first and only photographs of the rare Wangunu giant shrew. In his project featured in the magazine Ecology and EvolutionUsing tips from local residents, the group set up camera traps and analyzed footage to identify the animals.

For years, local people living in the Solomon Islands have told stories of large mice climbing trees and opening coconuts with their teeth. Because mice have not been studied by scientists, it was not known whether mice were a unique species or whether the stories were true. In 2017, a team of researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago traveled to the islands to find out the truth.

They managed to observe several mice and even captured one and collected skin samples and took them to Chicago. Observations showed that the mice probably weighed an average of 1 kilogram and were up to 45 centimeters long, approximately three to four times the size of a normal brown or black rat. After analyzing DNA in the skin sample, the team discovered that the mouse did indeed belong to a previously unknown species and named it Uromys vika.

The Chicago team was unable to film a single mouse, forcing them to create illustrations of the mice, which were the only visuals the scientists had so far to work with. For this new study, the research team set up several camera traps at locations suggested by local residents on Wangunu Island. His experiments were successful; The team managed to capture 95 mouse images; After analysis, it was revealed that the mice were four individuals.

The researchers suggest their efforts may have been timely, as mice are likely to become extinct within a few years due to logging that has destroyed their only habitat.