It has been a good week for “extinct” animals being (re)found.

A mouse species, which was thought to have been extinct in New South Wales for 150 years, has been found living in a drought-ravaged national park in the state’s far west.

It is the first time anyone has seen the desert mouse in the Sturt National Park near Tibooburra since 1857.

The manager of the area’s National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ingrid Witte, says a PhD student at the University of New South Wales, Ulrike Kloecker, made the important discovery.

“We certainly didn’t expect any new finds,” she said.

“[Ms Kloecker] has been out their travelling and had to get the manual book out again to identify this species because she had never come across it and yep, there it was.”

Ms Witte says further investigations will now take place to try to find other desert mice.

She says it is exciting that the park can still yield mammals despite the prolonged drought.

“Although it is a rodent, it doesn’t look like a little house mouse that we know of. This one is really a beautiful colour,” she said.

“It has a buff-orange ring around its eyes, it is quite an attractive little thing.”

Ms Ulrike, who works in Sturt National Park investigating the ecology of the small mammal and reptile communities, said in a statement that she was excited by the discovery.Student finds ‘extinct’ desert mouse, Australian Broadcasting Network, Sydney, Australia.

National Parks and Wildlife Service Tibooburra Area Manager Ingrid Witte said it’s not the first time a mammal presumed extinct has emerged in the treasure trove that is Sturt National Park.

“In 2003, the Dusky Hopping Mouse (above, Notomys fuscus) was removed from the presumed extinct list after being rediscovered in Sturt and a species not detected for more than two decades – the ‘long haired rat’ was found in earlier research.”

“These finds show the real value of protected areas as refuges for rare and endangered species in NSW,” Ms Witte said. Source.