He New Britain goshawk (Accipiter princeps) it’s a bird of prey which is listed on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a species vulnerable to extinction that is also extremely rare and until early 2024 had never been photographed.
It is endemic to the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, the last documented records that exist date back to 1969 and are kept at the American Museum of Natural History (New York), according to a statement from members of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a leading international wildlife conservation organization.
Was Tom Vierusa Fiji-based photographer who travelled with WWF to New Britain in March this year, was responsible for capturing the first image of this elusive bird with his camera.
Vierus captured a few photographs of certain bird species while guides led his group through the forest. The artist said he was not aware of their significance at the time, but said it was “a great surprise” to learn that his work “appeared to be the first of this extraordinary species.”
“It’s wonderful to see how conservation photography can help safeguard areas by documenting existing biodiversity, and it’s a good reminder of how important visual storytelling is,” Vierus said.
The artist also said he hopes that the part of the world that “mostly” remains unchanged can in the future remain “as intact as possible,” all with the help of local communities, “their conservation initiatives and the support of WWF.”
Oscar Pileng, a native of Pomio, a district in eastern New Britain and WWF’s regional manager, identified the photo and contacted local residents, who confirmed that encounters with this bird are rare and that sightings usually occur inland rather than in coastal areas.
Residents of the area know this elusive bird as “keango” either “kulingapa”.
Pileng was surprised to learn that this was the “first time he had been photographed,” but he also said he was “very happy” that there was now an official record.
“I hope this will help to encourage more efforts to protect their habitat from large-scale threats from agriculture, logging, mining and infrastructure development,” added the WWF official.
Martha Eimba, Pomio environment manager for WWF-Papua New Guinea, said there were very few studies of biodiversity on the island of New Britain and there was “quite a high potential” to discover species that are previously unknown to science.
“It is a race to protect them because of the pressures that are coming and the poverty that is a reality for many,” Eimba added. The charity is now partnering closely with communities to develop comprehensive, collective-based conservation programmes.
WWF experts have reported that Papua New Guinea is home to the “third largest undisturbed tropical forest in the world”, behind only the Amazon and Congo basins. It is endowed with more than 5,000 lakes, 8,000 kilometres of mangroves, lagoons, coral reefs and atolls.
The area where the New Britain goshawk was photographed, the Nakanai Mountains, is estimated to be between 10.5 and 22.5 million years old. At the same time, this area is located in a provisional UNESCO World Heritage site.
