Where the Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo was found

Wondowoi mountains

The Wondiwoi tree kangaroo ( Dendrolagus mayri ) is known as a species of mammal in the genus Dendroagus  Until now only known from a single specimen collected in 1928.  The only known specimen is a male weighing 9.25 kg. Dendrolagus mayri  is found on the Wondiwoi Peninsula  at an altitude of between 1600 meters above sea level . It is estimated that the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo can occupy an area of ​​300 km². 

Global Wildlife Conservation, a wildlife conservation charity, listed the Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo as one of the "25 Most Wanted Lost Species"

The Wondiwoi tree kangaroo was first seen in 1928 by legendary evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr. He saw it in the Wondiwoi mountains at that time.

Mayr shot the only known specimen so far and sent it to Natural History in London. In 1933, this species was identified as Dendrolagus mayri. Since that incident, local people have rarely reported the presence of the species. Nearly a century ago the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo disappeared from the wild and many thought the species was extinct.

Curiosity about the mysterious disappearance of tree kangaroos led Michael Smith, an amateur botanist from England, to lead an expedition through the dense bamboo forest in the Wondiwoi Mountains, Teluk Wondama Regency, West Papua, Indonesia.

The man from Farnham, England planned the expedition after hearing about the mysterious animal while exploring the mountains of West Papua in 2017. The expedition started on July 23. A week later they reported their findings.

When found, the Womdiwoi tree kangaroo was climbing a tree and was seen by a local guide, Smith immediately photographed the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo.

Prior to publication, Smith solicited input from tree kangaroo experts including Mark Eldridge, a marsupial biologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney and Roger Martin of James Cook University.

"This is one of the most unknown mammals in the world. The species is still there, it's amazing. The mountains are remote and difficult to access," said Eldridge who was not involved in this expedition.

From these references we tried to carry out an expedition to penetrate Mount Wondiboi in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to confirm the existence of this animal, but this expedition was unable to find the mysterious Wondiwoi tree kangaroo.

On our 4th expedition in January 2023 we managed to find the Nemena Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus Ursinus).

Nemena tree kangaroo

The nemena tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus Ursinus) is   a marsupial  in the Macropodidae family. This animal is endemic to the Doberai Peninsula region  and possibly also to the Fak-Fak peninsula in West Papua, Indonesia. Other common names for this animal are  the black tree kangaroo ,  the Vogelkop tree kangaroo  ( Vogelkop  is the Dutch name  for the region of Doberai), and  the white-necked tree kangaroo . This animal is threatened by habitat destruction  and is listed as vulnerable  by the IUCN. 

Geographical distribution of the Nemena tree kangaroo

From a geographical distribution, the namena tree kangaroo has not been detected in the Wondiboi mountains, Wondama Bay, West Papua, Indonesia, but it turns out that this tree kangaroo was found in the Wondiboi Mountains at an altitude of around 1200 meters above sea level. The animal was in a tree that was about 15 m high from the ground, but unfortunately we couldn't take good pictures because it was almost night and it was getting dark in the middle of the forest, the camera equipment was barely below standard.

The forest where
the wondiwoi tree kangaroo was found

The Nemena tree kangaroo is a species of step that has just been discovered for the first time. according to information from the local community, they have never encountered a type of black tree kangaroo like the nemena, this can be concluded that the nemena tree kangaroo is indeed at a height that is difficult to reach and rarely reached so that it has never been found by local people. From the results of this discovery, hopefully it will be a reference for the world of wildlife lovers, marsupial experts and also readers that the Nemena Tree Kangaroo is found in the Wondiboi mountains.

The forest where
the nemena tree kangaroo was found

From the location of the discovery of the Nemena Tree Kangaroo in 2023 and the location of the Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo in 2017 it is not far away and is in the same forest ecosystem, the distance between the two discovery locations is about 1 hour by foot in the middle of the forest following the mountain vein.

The location of the discovery of the Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo is at an altitude of about 1600 which is overgrown with tropical rain forest at the foot of the last mountain before the top of Wondiboi.

Moss and forest mushrooms near the location where
the wondiwoi tree kangaroo was found

 There is a small stream beside which grows giant banana trees ( Musa ingens)  and various other dense vegetation. Among the trees there are many hiding places and shelters for the wondiwoi tree kangaroos. This is a forest ecosystem that is suitable for habitation by tree kangaroos.

The wondiwoi tree kangaroo hiding place

 Some of the existing mercury banana trees ( Musa ingens) have bear fruit and some are already ripe. In our opinion, it looks like the tree kangaroos are around that location because there are giant bananas ready to eat.

Giant bananas and
forest flowers around where
the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo was found

At this location there are also various types of colorful forest plants, forest flowers, insects and forest mushrooms.

Mushrooms and forest flowers around the location where the wondiwoi tree kangaroo was found

It is a suitable habitat for bowerbirds so that the most bowerbirds are here.

Bowerbird nest

Tree kangaroo claw marks are on trees at an altitude of 1600 masl to 2000 masl. if the observations are carried out slowly and for a duration of 1 to 2 weeks, then it is very likely that you will be able to find wondiwoi tree kangaroos.

Some kangaroo claw marks
on the tree

These two types of tree kangaroos are located at high altitudes that are difficult and rarely reached by local hunters and local people in general, so that habitat destruction by local people does not occur, and these two types of animals are not the main target of local hunters.

But indirectly it seems that habitat destruction can occur due to habitat fragmentation, geological processes, climate change, invasive species and lack of ecosystem nutrition.

There is another possibility, from the difficulty in getting food intake due to excessive city noise, sometimes heard up to an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level, which makes these animals afraid to go out and go down to find food, this can cause extinction to occur naturally. (Eky Sawaki)