This image of the New Britain Goshawk - undocumented since 1969 - was captured in the Nakanai Ranges by Fiji-based photographer Tom Vierus. Photo: WWF/Tom Vierus
A rare bird in Papua New Guinea that was last officially documented 55 years ago has finally been captured again on camera.
The New Britain Goshawk was snapped in the Nakanai Ranges by Fiji-based photographer Tom Vierus.
"I was on a scoping trip with WWF in Pomio [eastern New Britain], with three members of the local community guiding us through the forest, so we could better understand the presence of species. I photographed several bird species, including the New Britain Goshawk, but wasn't aware of the significance at the time," Tom Vierus said, sharing how he secured the photograph.
The last documented scientific record of the species appears to be a July 1969 specimen that is kept in the American Museum of Natural History in New York, USA.
Confirming the photographed bird as the New Britain Goshawk, John Mittermeier, Director of the Search for Lost Birds at American Bird Conservancy, said: "While there have been multiple sight-only records in the intervening years, the New Britain Goshawk seems to have eluded photo, sound, and specimen documentation for 55 years."
Oscar Pileng, who was born in Pomio and is WWF's Pomio-based officer, said he was amazed to hear it was the first time it had been photographed.
"I hope that this means more efforts are made to protect its habitat from the threats of large-scale agriculture, logging, mining and infrastructure development."
According to the World Wildlife Fund Papua New Guinea hosts the third-largest intact tropical forest in the world, following the Amazon and Congo basins. With more than 5,000 lakes, extensive river systems and wetlands, more than 8,000 kilometres of mangrove swamps, lagoons, coral reefs and atolls, the country is remarkably diverse in terms of species, landscapes and ecosystems.
The government of Papua New Guinea is currently in the process of revising its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan ahead of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, taking place in Colombia in October 2024.
The forests where the bird was photographed are part of the Nakanai Ranges, a rugged and remarkably biodiverse expanse of green dotted mountains that form a section of the Sublime Karsts of Papua New Guinea, a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site.
Scientists estimate the Ranges have been around for 10.5 - 22.5 million years.