Papua New Guinea – Palm Oil Detectives

New Guinea Singing Dog Canis hallstromi

Thought for decades to be extinct in the wild, the New Guinea singing dog populations hang on to survival in the remote mountains and forests of New Guinea. They were last spotted in 2017 near the Grasberg gold and copper mine in West Papua.

Elusive and likely now critically endangered, New Guinea Singing Dogs are rapidly disappearing and have no formal protection or conservation in place. Help them survive and fight against #palmoil #deforestation in #WestPapua, #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Papuan Eagle Harpyopsis novaeguineae

Elusive, forest-dwelling apex predators in New Guinea, Papuan eagles are classified as vulnerable and rapidly declining due to enormous deforestation for mining and palm oil in Papua New Guinea and West Papua along with hunting threats. They are poorly studied birds and therefore estimates of their populations may be severely overestimated, meaning that they are in much more serious strife than we know.

While there have probably never been high densities of the Papuan eagle, evidence indicates that they are declining rapidly. It is possible that the entire population is considerably under 10,000 individuals. There is no evidence that the Papuan eagle is adaptable to the opening of forests and the eagles appear to abandon areas especially where logging roads have been cut into the forests.

Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi

Apex predator and flying royalty of the jungle, Philippine #Eagles are critically endangered from #climatechange, #palmoil, #timber and #cacao #deforestation and illegal #hunting.

There are estimated to be only 180-600 eagles left in the wild. Protecting the Philippine eagle would also protect 780 other plant and animal species in the Philippines. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
There are estimated to be only 180-600 eagles left in the wild. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Anthropologist and author of ‘In the Shadow of the Palms’ Dr Sophie Chao: In Her Own Words

Dr Sophie Chao is an environmental anthropologist and environmental humanities scholar interested in the intersections of capitalism, ecology, Indigeneity, health, and justice in the Pacific.

Palm Oil Detectives is honoured to interview to Dr Sophie Chao about her research into the impacts of palm oil on the daily lives of Marind people and other sentient beings in West Papua.

I wrote In the Shadow of the Palms because I wanted the world to understand how deforestation and industrial oil palm expansion are undermining Indigenous ways of being in West Papua.

The mimics among us — birds pirate songs for personal profit

From Roman classics to British tabloids, humans have long celebrated the curious and remarkable ability of birds to imitate the sounds of humans and other animals. A recent surge of research is revealing how and why birds use vocal mimicry to further their own interests, as we discuss in Biological Reviews. Anastasia Dalziell, Cornell UniversityContinue reading “The mimics among us — birds pirate songs for personal profit”

Seri’s Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus stellarum

Seri’s Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus stellarum Vulnerable Location: Papua New Guinea; West Papua The Seri’s Tree Kangaroo is a large tree kangaroo that needs primary upper montane tropical forests. This species is threatened by heavy hunting pressure, this includes hunting with dogs (trophy jaws were still very much in evidence in 2000; T. Flannery pers. comm.Continue reading “Seri’s Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus stellarum”