Tag Archives: West Papua

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

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 Pro-Palm Oil Lobby Getting Caught Lying: Illegal Land Grabbing

For decades, investigative journalists have been exposing that illegal land grabbing from Indigenous peoples as a regular occurrence in West Papua, South and Central America, Africa and Asia. Indigenous people’s land is being forcibly (and often violently) taken from them by predatory palm oil companies. Major supermarket brands and also palm oil producers that areContinue reading “The Pro-Palm Oil Lobby Getting Caught Lying: Illegal Land Grabbing”

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”

Eastern Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus bartoni

Eastern Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus bartoni Vulnerable Location: Papua New Guinea The Eastern Long-beaked Echidna have a large altitudinal range and correspondingly broad ecological scope. Across their entire range they have been recorded from near sea level to 4150 metres a.s.l., although regionally their altitudinal range may be more restricted. This echnidna species lives in lowlandContinue reading “Eastern Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus bartoni”

Grizzled Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus inustus

Curious, gentle tree-dwelling macropods, Grizzled Tree kangaroos live in the lowland and mid-montane tropical forests of Papua New Guinea. They are found in both primary and degraded forests. The Grizzled Tree Kangaroo is threatened by heavy hunting for food by local people, and by habitat loss and degradation through conversion of forest to small-scale agricultural use, and industrial palm oil plantations.

Spectacled Flying Fox Pteropus conspicillatus

Spectacled Flying Fox Pteropus conspicillatus Endangered Location: Papua New Guinea, Australia The Spectacled Flying Fox Pteropus conspicillatus, also known as the spectacled fruit bat, is a megabat that lives in Australia’s north-eastern regions of Queensland. They are also found in Papua New Guinea and on the offshore islands including Woodlark Island, Alcester Island, Kiriwina, andContinue reading “Spectacled Flying Fox Pteropus conspicillatus”

Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis

Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis Endangered Location: Papua New Guinea, Asia, SE Asia, Northern Australia The Far Eastern Curlew breeds on open mossy or transitional bogs, moss-lichen bogs and wet meadows, and on the swampy shores of small lakes and winters in Papua New Guinea; in the non-breeding season, this bird is essentially coastal, occurringContinue reading “Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis”

Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus pulcherrimus

Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus pulcherrimus Critically Endangered Locations: Papua New Guinea , West Papua (Indonesia) The Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo occurs in mid-montane rainforests. Otherwise, very little is known of its ecology and life history. Historically, the species has been highly threatened by hunting for food, and additionally by habitat loss through conversion of forest toContinue reading “Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus pulcherrimus”