The black-naped pheasant is a chicken-sized ground-dwelling pigeon that is large and prefers to roost on the ground, with a peculiar call, a bit like a baby's cry.
But for unknown reasons, after 1882, the bird disappeared from human sight, and there has been no record, so scientists believe that the black-naped pheasant may be extinct on Earth.
01 Missing for 140 years, the "unicorn" of the bird has reappeared
At the end of this year, after 140 years of disappearance, the black-naped pheasant appeared on Ferguson Island off the east coast of Papua New Guinea.
The camera installed by scientists in a "steep peak and deep valley" area filmed a black-naped pheasant dove foraging in the dense forest, only to see it walking around the forest, sometimes looking up at the surroundings, for fear of some stray cats.
Scientists liken the black-naped pheasant to the "unicorn" of birds, and this rediscovery of the black-naped pheasant dove offers hope for scientists to find more birds "considered extinct."
Ferguson Island is a rugged island with an area of only 1,437 square kilometers, and although most of it is undeveloped primary forest, it will be cut down in the coming years.
According to past literature, Ferguson Island in Papua New Guinea is likely to be the only habitat for the black-naped pheasant.
02 Ferguson Island is not too big, after looking for so many years have not been found, experts believe that it is extinct
Over the past 140 years, scientists have searched for it many times but found no trace of it, so it was thought that the black-naped pheasant may have become extinct. After all, Ferguson Island in Papua New Guinea is not too big, after searching for so many years, it has not been found, and it is almost certain that it is extinct.
Since 2019, biologist Polsma, along with Jason Gregg and local scholar Doka Nathan, has embarked on a journey to find the black-necked pheasant.
Although the three of them did not find black-naped pheasants during this trip, they accidentally found 5 species of birds that were not known to live on Ferguson Island.
While talking to local hunters, they heard reports about a species of bird that, according to the description, may belong to a pheasant dove.
03 The local villagers recognized this species, they called it "Ovo"
At the beginning of September this year, the research team organized a larger team to return to Ferguson Island for scientific expeditions. This time they decided to change direction and strengthen cooperation with the indigenous people of the island, so that they could also participate in the search for the black-naped pheasant.
For dozens of days, the expedition team climbed seven or eight narrow hills, crossed countless rivers, and walked through the canyons in the tropical forest every day, full of mosquitoes and leeches, and camping in the forest was a living sin.
Day after day, expedition teams began to go into the village and ask local villagers, who were initially unfamiliar with the large bird described by the researchers, either unrecognizable or ambiguous.
But when the expedition team arrived on the remote slopes of the western Kirkelan Mountains, everyone was a little happy, because they met a villager who, after listening to the Xiangxi introduction of the team members, recognized the species, which they locally called "Ovo".
04Surprise! The infrared monitoring camera finally captured 2 black-naped pheasants
What made the expedition even more excited was that they found a hunter in a village called Dudayuna, who told the researchers after listening to the introduction that he had seen the bird in a col not far from here.
The hunter helped point the team to an area on a ridge 975 meters above sea level, which was densely vegetated. The expedition team hurried there and installed more than 20 infrared cameras there, which they wanted to capture the elusive bird with an infrared trigger camera.
A few days later, they came here again, and just as everyone was about to return, the joint leader of the expedition casually flipped through the images on the infrared monitoring camera he had just collected, and suddenly the picture appeared in the picture that felt like a mythical species at the time, the black-naped pheasant.
A few days later, after reviewing all the images, the team also found that a black-naped pheasant dove had also been recorded in another camera. Since these two images are separated by several kilometers, everyone must be two different individuals.
The number of 05s may be very small, and experts estimate that it should be around 100
The existence of the black-necked pheasant has finally been confirmed. However, it should be the most endangered bird in New Guinea, and because the number of black-necked pheasants is likely to be very small, experts estimate that it should be around 100, which highlights the urgent need to protect the black-necked pheasant dove's habitat on Ferguson Island.
Even more frighteningly, the survival of the black-necked pheasant is also seriously threatened: first, the logging industry seems to be a growing threat; Second, stray cats and the like may cause harm to pheasants. The current focus is on preventing the extinction of this critically endangered species.
The revival of the black-necked pheasant has raised hopes that future explorations may lead to the discovery of other species that are scientifically thought to have disappeared but have long been known to local experts.
In other words, since the black-necked pheasant that has disappeared for 140 years can still appear again, can the South China tiger that disappeared in the Chinese wild still appear?