Rare Sighting: Enormous Rat Cracks Coconuts in Solomon Islands

The elusive Vangunu giant rat, one of the world's rarest rodents, has been photographed for the first time in the Solomon Islands. The species, described in 2017, was captured on camera traps set up in the Zaira Conservation Resource Management Area. The images show four specimens, including three females and one male, with their distinctive large size, long tails, and short ears. Logging activities have critically endangered the species, making the new photos a promising development for its conservation.