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Scientists Find New Species In Remote New Guinea
An anonymous reader writes "A team of scientists exploring an isolated jungle in one of Indonesia's most remote provinces said they discovered dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and plants as well as large mammals hunted to near extinction elsewhere. The team also found wildlife that were remarkably unafraid of humans during their rapid assessment survey of the Foja Mountains, which has more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest."
Hopefully this might provide more public incentive in terms of supporting conservation efforts.
Cogito, ergo sum, fosho!
So anyone taking bets on how long it will take before these 'hunted to near extinction' mammals will really be extinct?
This whole island: Papua and W New Guinea is too dangerous for normal people to consider going there. But is has forests and wildlife which have been wiped out in most other parts of Asia.
If the politics can be sorted out the people living there will be sitting on an economic goldmine from tourism alone.
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...we'll have to send a number of scientists into the area to catalog all these new finds. Several teams of to catalog plants, birds, insects, mammels, etc. Then we'll need to create research areas for these scientists to work, because they'll need time to do all the research needed. Naturally, they'll need supplies, and flying in supplies to so many scientists will be extremely costly, so we should build a few roads to deliver goods to all the areas they'll be working in. It's a large area, so we should probably build a little infrastructure for refueling and medical needs, as well. That infrastructure will require power, so we should run a number of power lines to each of the various places. Of course, with this much research to be done, it would be a lot to ask for those scientists to have to leave their families behind for long periods of time, so we should build accomodations for their families. Those kids of theirs will need an education, so schools are a must. All work and no play is bad for morale, so we should build a few different types of entertainment for the residents, too. Naturally, with this many people in a newly discovered source of rare and unknown plants and animals, we need to make sure no one takes animals and plants out of the area, so we'll need to make sure we provide a healthy number of resource control officers, and they have needs and families as well. Geez, with this many people, we're bound to have crime and disorganization, so we'll need police and government officials to help maintain the order. Of course, we'll need judges and lawyers, to keep the police and politicians honest and make sure balance is maintained somewhat. We'll need construction workers to help build all this, and they'll need... :)
Microsoft has just released their much anticipated hands-free cordless mouse. Warning, it may hurt a little at first.
Or there maybe could be something to this new "Theory" of "Evolution".
How many more of these discoveries do we need before the fanatics finally give it up?
Tree Kangaroos. Five hundred previously unknown plant species. Wow. Just wow.
it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
"This is a place with no roads or trails and never, so far as we know, visited by man ... This proves there are still places to be discovered that man has not touched."
Lets keep it that way. "Do Not Feed The Animal" sign is kinda getting old right now.
"Don't let fools fool you. They are the clever ones."
It's not that hard to find a new species- walk into any isolated forested region on earth and before you know it you'll be batting away unclassified insects, hacking your way through undiscovered shrubs, and if you're really unlucky, being poisoned by some new snake venom or frog toxin. People should realise that we really don't know shit about what's in the rainforests of the Amazon, never mind Papua New Guinea.
This is, however an excellent discovery, and I don't mean to just dismiss the achievements of the scientists involved- I just want to point out that there are thousands of types of plants and animals out there that we haven't classified yet.
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