For 140 years, the community scientific accepted that the Black-naped Pheasant Pigeon, a bird native to New Guinea, was extinct. That's because the last time there were records of an encounter with the animal was in 1882. However, to everyone's surprise, scientists have documented bird rare after full dedication of a team; know details!
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How did the discovery
Although there was no official record of the bird, much was still being discussed about the supposed extinction of the black-naped pheasant pigeon. To take the final proof, an expedition team, comprising officials from the National Museum of Papua New Guinea and scientists from Cornell Lab and the American Bird Conservancy, took the initiative.
So they moved to a very rugged island in the D'Entrecasteaux archipelago, which is in eastern Papua New Guinea. In this case, this was the exact location where the bird was originally documented over 140 years ago. However, the journey of these scientists to Fergusson Island was not easy.
After all, the island has a difficult relief due to the predominance of mountains. In fact, the team took a long time to get the record, so they were just two days away from leaving the island when one of the cameras captured the image of the bird. It goes without saying how emotional this moment was for these researchers.
What do we know about the black-naped pheasant pigeon
The scientific community knows little about this species, after all, it is very rare and for a long time was considered extinct. However, one can be absolutely sure that it is a bird with a very small population and with a tendency to decrease more and more. Proof of this is that it took a lot of effort to get a record of seconds.
In order to find the bird, the native population was essential, since the researchers used the reports of residents who claimed to have seen it. Even among the population of the island there was doubt about the real existence of the bird, so the camera footage was a great way to bring the truth to everyone.
