Scientists have rediscovered the black-naped pheasant pigeon, a rare bird that was last seen nearly 140 years ago in Papua New Guinea. The bird was seen in footage captured by the study team deep in the forests of Papua New Guinea.
The chicken-sized bird is one of 20 “lost” birds that haven’t been seen in more than a century. According to Audubon Magazine, scientists have not documented the bird species since it was first named in 1882. According to the report, the research team that captured the film worked for a month, interviewing locals and setting up camera traps. They finally succeeded in September.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF BLACK-NAPED PHEASANT-PIGEON
During the final hours of an expedition searching for the Black-naped Pheasant-pigeon, camera traps captured photos and video of the bird, which had been long-lost to science for 140 years. #LostBirds https://t.co/701DV3Dokn pic.twitter.com/Qs715l6Cys
— Re:wild (@rewild) November 17, 2022
“It felt like finding a unicorn,” John C Mittermeier, director of the lost birds programme at the American Bird Conservancy and a co-leader of the eight-member expedition, told the BBC. “To find something that’s been gone for that long, that you’re thinking is almost extinct, and then to figure out that it’s not extinct, it feels like finding a unicorn or a Bigfoot,” he added.
BirdLife International, Rewild, and the American Bird Conservancy collaborated to create the research endeavour. The initiative’s goal is to rediscover more than 150 bird species that haven’t been seen in at least a decade but haven’t been declared extinct.
A similar attempt to rediscover the black-naped pheasant pigeon earlier this year on Fergusson Island near Papua New Guinea failed. However, the crew had the luck this year when they discovered the bird on the western slope of Mount Kilkerran, the island’s highest peak.
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