Rodent Spotlight: Kha-nyou

Also known as the Laotian rock rat, the kha-nyou (pronounced kah' - nyoo) is a very interesting species of rodent located ONLY in the Khammouan region of Laos. I am sure there is a possibility you do not even know where that is in the world. Laos a tiny little country in southeast Asia bordered by Burma and China. That would make this rodent incredibly hard to find in the world. Unlike most rodents, the kha-nyou is all but extinct.

But extinction is not what caught my attention about this little guy. They had just recently been discovered. I think the people living in that region likely knew about the rodents before the scientific community figured out they existed. Back in 1996, you could buy kha-nyou meat at markets, and none of the tourists really knew what in the world it was. There were various sightings afterwards--but nothing living. It was not until 2006 that a live one was finally captured and photographed for all to see. Maybe, they are not so much going extinct rather than they are just really good at evading the paparazzi. Anyways, they are out there, and we know about it now.

The kha-nyou look like fluffy rats with long squirrel-like tails. They are slow and seem to be a bit dimwitted which is likely why they seem to be on everybody's menu rather than running around as pets. Personally, I thought they were adorable.

There is not much more I can tell you about these rodents because there is just so very little discovered about them. There are even those who debate what the creature really is in relation to its cousins, but they all seem to agree that it is actually a rodent. It must be sad to be so entirely outside of the spotlight that your existence is barely acknowledged.

Still, I like the kha-nyou! I even see them as characters in fiction. Of course, they would be a very cloistered species who rarely show themselves outside of their own society. They are a bit moody; however, they don't really give their problems to people they don't know. A kha-nyou would be quiet and almost entirely reject a proffered conversation. He would sit in the a dark corner trying to be unnoticed. But within these tightly-locked away rodents resides a mystery. If you can get to know a kha-nyou and break those chains that bar his trust, you are liable to find him an interesting rodent and perhaps a friend for life. However, the task may be harder to accomplish than you may expect, and the fellow will only become more distant till he has disappeared entirely.

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