For more than 40 years people believed the elusive Bactrian deer was extinct in Afghanistan, unsurprising considering the conflict across the country in that time.
But then, unexpectedly, in 2013, ecologist Zalmai Moheb and a team of researchers caught a glimpse of one.
Their findings were recently published and the IUCN, the world conservation union and keeper of the Red List of endangered species, is also now considering reclassifying the deer, a move that would highlight just how vulnerable the animal still is.
It was an extraordinary moment for Mr Moheb and one that tells a story - not just about the animal and how it managed to survive against the odds - but the country too.
"We said to ourselves, 'wow, we are going to confirm the presence of this rare deer for this first time in 45 years when conservationists had almost lost hope to find this animal again in Afghanistan''", he said.
The Bactrian deer, also called the Bukhara, is a rare sub-species of red deer, native to central Asia. They are typically found in riparian habitats- areas where trees, shrubs and grasses grow along river banks.