Unexplored natural wealth of Chhattisgarh homes to some of the rare of the rarest creatures on earth. It has been proven once again when in the dense forests of Gariyaband, a creature captured by trap cameras a century after its existence first recorded in 1905. Cute, gentle and shy in nature, hardly stands to 15 inches on shoulders, this creature is the smallest descendent of ungulate species (deer spec.) known by name Indian Mouse Deer or Indian Chervotain. During phase IV Tiger monitoring program conducted by Nova Nature Welfare Society under the direction of Mr. O P Yadav (Field Director) and Mr. B Vivekananda Reddy (Deputy Director) in Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, photographic evidence of existence of this small deer species recorded in Chhattisgarh for the first time. In 1905, first evidence was collected by Brook from Raipur province of central India.
Not only mouse deers but Tiger reserve supports variety of life forms comprises of more than 30 known mammals including rare Wild Water Buffalos, Royal Bengal Tiger to smallest Mouse deer, Bats along with scores of birds, reptiles and varied flora.
The team from NNWS working on this project lead by M Suraj, Moiz ahmed with technical supervisor (Principal Investigator) Krishnendu Basak and team members Ajaz Ahmed, Irfaan, Avinash, Om Prakash, Chiranjivi Sinha.