Fight launched to save PNG's tree kangaroos

Port Moresby (NAU FM/PINA Nius Online) – A hunting moratorium has been signed by locals in the Aitape Lumi area in a bid to save a critically endangered species of tree kangaroo, found only in the Sandaun province and known in the local dialect as Tenkile.

According to the Director of the PNG Nature Conservatory, Wep Kanawi, immediate threats to it’s extinction are hunting and the recent invasion of a monkey species believed to have crossed over from Indonesia, which is a threat to the rapidly declining Tenkile as it has the potential to spread and inflict damage on ecosystems.

The tree kangaroo was first discovered in 1989 and efforts are currently being made by Conservation Melanesia and other conservation institutions to protect it from extinction.