This bird hadn't been documented by scientists since 1882. Then they captured video of it in Papua New Guinea - CNN

CNN  — 

A vertebrate thought to beryllium extinct for 140 years has been rediscovered successful the forests of Papua New Guinea.

The black-naped pheasant-pigeon was documented by scientists for the archetypal and past clip successful 1882, according to a quality merchandise from nonprofit Re:wild, which helped money the hunt effort.

Rediscovering the vertebrate required an expedition squad to walk a grueling period connected Fergusson, a rugged land successful the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago disconnected eastbound Papua New Guinea wherever the vertebrate was primitively documented. The squad consisted of section unit astatine the Papua New Guinea National Museum arsenic good arsenic planetary scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy.

Fergusson Island is covered successful rugged, mountainous terrain – making the expedition particularly challenging for the scientists. Many members of the assemblage told the squad that they hadn’t seen the black-naped pheasant-pigeon successful decades, says the quality release.

But conscionable 2 days earlier the researchers were scheduled to permission the island, a camera trap captured footage of the exceptionally uncommon bird.

“After a period of searching, seeing those archetypal photos of the pheasant-pigeon felt similar uncovering a unicorn,” John C. Mittermeier, manager of the mislaid birds programme astatine American Bird Conservancy and co-leader of the expedition, said successful the release. “It is the benignant of infinitesimal you imagination astir your full beingness arsenic a conservationist and birdwatcher.”

The black-naped pheasant-pigeon is simply a large, ground-dwelling pigeon with a wide tail, according to the release. Scientists inactive cognize small astir the taxon and judge the colonisation is tiny and decreasing.

Insight from section residents was important for the scientists to way down the elusive bird.

“It wasn’t until we reached villages connected the occidental slope of Mt. Kilkerran that we started gathering hunters who had seen and heard the pheasant-pigeon,” Jason Gregg, a conservation biologist and co-leader of the expedition team, said successful the release. “We became much assured astir the section sanction of the bird, which is ‘Auwo,’ and felt similar we were getting person to the halfway situation of wherever the black-naped pheasant-pigeon lives.”

They placed a full of 12 camera traps connected the slopes of Mt. Kilkerran, which is the island’s highest mountain. And they placed different 8 cameras successful locations wherever section hunters reported seeing the vertebrate successful the past.

A huntsman named Augustin Gregory, based successful the upland colony Duda Ununa, provided the last breakthrough that helped scientists find the pheasant-pigeon.

Gregory told the squad that helium had seen the black-naped pheasant-pigeon successful an country with “steep ridges and valleys,” says the quality release. And helium had heard the bird’s distinctive calls.

So the expedition squad placed a camera connected a 3,200-foot precocious ridge adjacent the Kwama River supra Duda Ununa, according to the release. And finally, conscionable arsenic their travel was ending, they captured footage of the vertebrate walking connected the wood floor.

The find was a daze for the scientists and the section assemblage alike.

“The communities were precise excited erstwhile they saw the survey results, due to the fact that galore radical hadn’t seen oregon heard of the vertebrate until we began our task and got the camera trap photos,” said Serena Ketaloya, a conservationist from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, successful the quality release. “They are present looking guardant to moving with america to effort to support the pheasant-pigeon.”

It’s inactive not wide conscionable however galore of the black-naped pheasant-pigeon are left, and the rugged terrain volition marque identifying the colonisation difficult. A two-week survey successful 2019 failed to find immoderate impervious of the bird, though it did observe immoderate reports from hunters that helped find the locations for the 2022 expedition.

And the find mightiness supply anticipation that different vertebrate taxon thought extinct are inactive retired determination somewhere.

“This rediscovery is an unthinkable beacon of anticipation for different birds that person been mislaid for a fractional period oregon more,” said Christina Biggs, the manager for the Search for Lost Species astatine Re:wild, successful the release. “The terrain the squad searched was incredibly difficult, but their determination ne'er wavered, adjacent though truthful fewer radical could retrieve seeing the pheasant-pigeon successful caller decades.”