Nearly extinct kangaroo rat spotted in eastern Turkey

A rare kangaroo rat was spotted in Turkey's eastern province of Elazığ on Aug. 24. With long hind legs and a long tail, the tiny creature resembles a miniature mix of the two animals.

Anadolu Agency - A Turkish villager found a rare "kangaroo rat" in the eastern province of Elazığ on Aug. 24.

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İrfan Solak spotted the kangaroo rat "Euphrates jerboa” that he had never seen before while he was taking his cattle to water.

The man initially thought it was a rat, but realized that the rodent was different when it started hopping like kangaroos.

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Solak took it under protection so that the cattle would not harm the small creature. Then he brought the animal to his home and fed it with corn and wheat.

Solak said that he will release the jerboa to nature after it gets well.

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Euphrates jerboa are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species and are known as hopping rodents.

They have been found in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and also are seen rarely in southeastern Turkey.

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