First ever photograph of rare bird species New Britain Goshawk

The rare New Britain Goshawk (Accipiter princeps) has been photographed for the first time in history. The bird of prey is found only on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The last documented scientific record of the bird is from 1969 and is kept at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Tom Vierus, a Fiji-based photographer was on a trip with WWF on the island in March 2024. As local community members led a group through the forest, Vierus took photographs of several bird species. “I wasn’t aware of the significance at the time,” says Vierus. “It was such a great surprise to hear that this photo seems to be the first-ever of this ‘lost species’!”

The sighting and photograph were confirmed by internationally-renowned ornithologists “ While there have been multiple sight-only reports of the bird, the goshawk has not been photographed or recorded in the 55 years since the last specimen was found. Today, the photograph and further details are now available on the websites of Search for Lost Birds and iNaturalist.

A biodiversity hotspot

Papua New Guinea hosts the third-largest intact tropical forest in the world, following the Amazon and Congo basins. It is remarkably diverse in terms of species, landscapes, and ecosystems with more than 5,000 lakes, extensive river systems and wetlands, 5,000 miles of mangrove swamps, lagoons, coral reefs and atolls. The Nakanai Mountains, where the New Britain Goshawk was photographed, are part of a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site and are estimated to be between 10.5-22.5 million years old

Oscar Pileng was born in Pomio in eastern New Britain and is WWF’s officer for the region. After the photo was identified, he spoke with residents in the area, who confirmed that sightings of the bird are rare and usually made in the hinterlands rather than coastal areas. In local languages, the New Britain Goshawk is called ‘keango’ or ‘kulingapa’.”

“I was amazed to hear that this is the first time it has been photographed but am very happy that an official global record now exists, says Pileng. “I hope this means more efforts are made to protect its habitat from the threats of large-scale agriculture, logging, mining and infrastructure development.”

Communities and conservation

The Pomio region is notably home to the Indigenous Mengen and Mamusi peoples, who maintain largely intact traditions and beliefs intrinsically linked to the forests, rivers, and oceans they have called home for millennia. Working closely with these matrilineal clan-based societies, WWF hopes to support local stewardship to safeguard the future of these incredible biodiversity hotspots through community-led conservation.

“There have been very few biodiversity studies in New Britain, and the potential for discovering species new to science is quite high,” says Martha Eimba, Pomio Landscape Manager for WWF-Papua New Guinea. “But it is a race to protect them, with pressures looming large and poverty a reality for many.” WWF collaborates with communities to better understand the threats the region is facing as well as social contexts, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. The goal is to develop a comprehensive program of community-based conservation.

While WWF is actively seeking partners for this important work, the government of Papua New Guinea is in the process of revising its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan ahead of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity meeting of the parties, taking place in Colombia in October 2024.

As for the record photograph, “It is wonderful to see how conservation photography can help safeguard areas by documenting the existing biodiversity and a good reminder of how important visual storytelling is,” says photographer Vierus. “I truly hope this mostly pristine part of the world can remain as intact as possible with the help of the local communities, their already existing conservation initiatives and the support of WWF.”