Nearing Golden Age?

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"Lost World" in an Indonesian mountain jungle, home to dozens of exotic new

species of birds, butterflies, frogs and plants. It's as close to the Garden

of Eden as you're going to find on Earth, said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the

U.S., Indonesian, and Australian expedition to part of the cloud-shrouded Foja

mountains in the west of New Guinea. Indigenous peoples living near the Foja

range, which rises to 7,218 ft, said they did not

venture into the trackless area of 1,200 sq miles -- roughly the size of

Luxembourg or the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The team of 25 scientists rode

helicopters to boggy clearings in the pristine zone. We just scratched the

surface, Beehler told Reuters. "Anyone who goes there will come back with a

mystery."

Roman"> The expedition found a new type of honeyeater bird with a bright orange

patch on its face, known only to local people and the first new bird species

documented on the island in over 60 years. They also found more than 20 new

species of frog, four new species of butterfly and plants including five new

palms. And they took the first photographs of "Berlepsch's six-wired bird of

paradise," which appears in 19th century collections but whose home had

previously been unknown. The bird is named after six fine feathers about 4

inches long on the head of the male which can be raised and shaken in courtship

displays. BIRD, BOWER, BERRIES The expedition also took the first

photographs of a Golden-fronted bowerbird in

front of a bower made of sticks, while he was hanging up blue forest berries to

attract females. It found a rare tree kangaroo, previously unsighted in

Indonesia. Beehler said the naturalists reckoned that there was likely to be a

new species of kangaroo living higher altitudes. The scientists visited in

the wet season, which limited the numbers of flying insects. "Any expedition

visiting in the dry season would probably discover many more

butterflies," he said. Beehler, who works at Conservation International in

Washington, said the area was probably the largest pristine tropical forest in

Asia. Animals there were unafraid of humans. I suspect there are some areas

like this in Africa, and am sure that there are similar places in South

America, he said.

Roman"> Around the world, pristine areas are under increasing threat from

expanding human settlements and pollution. A U.N. meeting in Brazil in March

will seek ways to slow the currently accelerating rate of extinctions.

Beehler said the Indonesian government was doing the right thing by keeping the

area off limits to most visitors -- including loggers and mineral prospectors.

 

0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The scientists cut two trails about 2.5 miles

long, leaving vast tracts still to be explored.

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