KUNMING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- A number of mouse deer, an endangered species, have been spotted in the rainforest in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities have said.

In early spring this year, a team of Chinese researchers spotted the small mammals in the forests of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and for the first time, they took high definition videos of the species living in their natural habitat, according to Luo Aidong with the management department of the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.

It took months for the researchers to verify and affirm what they saw were rarely-seen mouse deer, which are about the size of a rabbit and the smallest cloven-hoofed mammals in the world.

Mouse deer are under top national protection in China and listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

"The mouse deer mainly inhabit the tropical forests in Southeast Asia. In China, only a small population can be found in Xishuangbanna," Luo said. "It's hard to spot them as they are very alert and vulnerable to predators, such as cats."

To further protect the species, the nature reserve launched a field research project in 2016 to identify mouse-deer habitats in Xishuangbanna and created a map of their habitats. However, the exact number of mouse deer in Xishuangbanna remains unknown, according to Luo.