The guy spotted something on the road and discovered it was an animal that is extremely rarely seen. Hugo Reguero was recently driving on a remote dirt road near his home in central Argentina when something caught his attention. There, slowly walking along the path in front of Hugo, was a mysterious pink creature he had never seen before.
“I saw something strange moving, so I stopped,” Reguero told The Dodo. Exiting his car and approaching closer, Reguero uncovered the incredible truth. The animal he came across was a pink fairy armadillo, an underground species rarely seen. Reguero was astonished. Sightings of pink fairy armadillos are so scarce that a dedicated armadillo researcher had been searching for them for 13 years without success. Meanwhile, Reguero accidentally stumbled upon one, likely a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. “I was really happy to see it,” said Reguero.
Not much is known about the range and population of these elusive creatures since they spend most of their lives underground. Therefore, Reguero did his best to document the encounter and ensure the armadillo remained safe. “I waited for it to move away from the road so nothing would happen to it,” Reguero said.
Dr. Marielle Superina confirmed that the animal Reguero saw that day was indeed a pink fairy armadillo and that the encounter was genuinely fortunate. “It’s a real privilege to see one of these little creatures in the wild,” said Superina, praising Reguero for his behavior during the encounter. “He only filmed the animal, didn’t touch it or disturb it in any other way – and that’s the right thing to do!” she added.