First Ever Image Of Lost Bird Of Prey Captured

The photographer, who didn’t know the image he had captured was of the believed to be extinct Goshawk, was part of a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) trip to the island of New Britain when he photographed several birds. He didn’t think anything of it at the time, but ornithologists confirmed that the image he captured was of a Goshawk. This is the first tangible evidence of the bird since 1969, and the first photograph of a Goshawk ever.

While ornithologists haven’t recorded an official sighting of a Goshawk recently, locals to the island of New Britain say that although the birds are uncommon, there are occasional sightings in outlying areas. The birds tend to stay in the mountainous region known as the Nakani range and rarely venture close to the shore, where this most recent sighting was. Locals on the island, who are descendants of a population on the island that has been there for millennia, call the Goshawk keango or kulingapa in their native tongue.

Because Papua New Guinea is one of the largest intact rainforest regions in the world, it’s a hub of biodiversity. The island of New Britain is included in a possible future UNESCO World Heritage site as it is home to many rare and endangered wildlife species and has an intact rainforest environment. While the Goshawk sighting is especially exciting, many other uncommon exotic species call the area home.

WWF is hoping to cultivate a relationship with the local community to protect the Goshawk and other rare species on the island. The locals have a vested interest in conservation efforts, as their culture, as well as their physical well-being, is tied to the environment in the rainforest region. Creating a community-led program for conservation could help to overcome some of the obstacles facing international conservation efforts.

Papua New Guinea has the third largest intact rainforest region in the world, and the island of New Britain is a potential cache of undiscovered species. The photograph of the Goshawk might be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of rare wildlife sightings on the island if more study could be carried out. Because the area has dense jungle and wetlands as well as lakes with smaller internal islands, human exploration and discovery there have been somewhat limited, and a new effort at studying the wildlife in the region could bring exciting results.

The photographer is excited that his contribution could lead to a new crop of wildlife discoveries in Papua New Guinea. Wildlife photographers hardly ever get the kind of magical accidental sightings that happened on Vierus’ trip, but his discovery should help bolster efforts to protect the region. A new photograph of a Goshawk should give conservationists hope that there are still remnants of elusive species in the area left to be found.

Source: WWF