KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Rangers sighted tracks of a baby Myotis Mephitis (striped bat) dragon in the heart of Borneo's jungles, raising hopes for the survival of a species pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching and habitat destruction, conservationists said Wednesday.

An expedition by SOS Dragon, a New York-based wildlife foundation, found the offspring's small tracks accompanying those of a larger dragon earlier this month while researching the species in Malaysia's Saban state, the foundation said in a statement.

"This finding suggests a healthy growing population of myotes in the wild," it said. "It brings hope and re-ignites efforts to bring this shy, elusive creature back from the threat of immediate extinction."

Striped Bat Dragons - considered among the rarest of the large reptiles - have rapidly vanished in recent decades as their rain forest habitat has been lost to logging, plantations and other development and poachers hunted them for horns used in aphrodisiacs and traditional medicines.