Near-Extinct Species Found, Six Decades Later!

Sixty-two years later, the critically endangered long-beaked echidna has once again been found.

Researchers, with the help of local Indigenous communities, strategically placed cameras in the Cyclops Mountains in an effort to find the long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi) that was last spotted in the early ’60’s.

The species is one of only five egg-laying mammals still on Earth today. Researchers successfully identified the long-beaked echidna using 110 photographs and 15 videos, though the exact population size remains unknown. Some captured footage even revealed courtship behaviour, suggesting that the species is actively breeding in the Cyclops Mountains, located on the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The researchers believe, however, that the species once had a much broader range of activity based on fossil remains, suggesting that the active population in the Cyclops Mountains could potentially be one of the last remaining areas on Earth that the long-beaked echidna calls home. The study emphasised the importance of conducting further population studies, protecting habitats, collaborating with Indigenous communities, and enhancing conservation efforts for the rare mammal.