Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo

Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo
Illustration from the 1936 Rothschild and Dollman monograph 'The Genus Dendrolagus'

Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Genus: Dendrolagus
Species:
D. mayri
Binomial name
Dendrolagus mayri

The Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus mayri) is a critically endangered, bear-like mammal native to tropical mountain forests on the island of New Guinea in Western Papua. Elusive and rare, it was considered extinct until rediscovery in 2018. It is a species of tree-kangaroo (genus Dendrolagus), a group of long-tailed, bear-like animals native to Australia and New Guinea that mostly live in trees and feed on plant matter. Tree-kangaroos belong to the macropod family (Macropodidae) with kangaroos, and carry their young in a pouch like most other marsupials. The Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo is likely threatened by hunting, and is known only from remote mountains on the Wondiwoi Peninsula in northwest New Guinea.

Until 2018, the wondiwoi tree-kangaroo was known only from a single specimen collected in 1928.[3]

Taxidermied Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo specimen collected in 1928

The only known specimen is a male weighing 9.25 kilograms (20.4 lb).[3] D. mayri was located in the Wondiwoi Peninsula of West Papua at an elevation of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) within montane rain forest. It is thought that the Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo could occupy an area of 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi).[3] Re:wild, the global conservation organization, lists the Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo as one of their "25 most wanted lost species".[4]

  1. ^ Leary, T.; Seri, L.; Flannery, T.; Wright, D.; Hamilton, S.; Helgen, K.; Singadan, R.; Menzies, J.; Allison, A.; James, R. (2016). "Dendrolagus mayri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T136668A21956785. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T136668A21956785.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Rothschild, Walter; Dollman, Guy (31 March 1933). Hill, J.P. (ed.). "Exhibitions and Notices". Journal of Zoology. 103 (2): 540–541. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1933.tb01607.x.
  3. ^ a b c "Tenkile Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo". Tenkile Conservation Alliance.
  4. ^ Global Wildlife Conservation. "Most Wanted Lost Species". Lost Species.