New Guinea eagle
Female cuscus
Female cuscus showing her pouch
A truly gorgeous spider
The friendliest hornbill on earth
BenBen loved Joyce
BenBen knows that he is gorgeous
And BenBen liked to talk to me
Joyce and BenBen became fast friends
Vincent the orchid grower and his two sons
Vincent with his pet parrot
And another view of the parrot
The parrot loved to roost on Vincent's headPapua New Guinea, Part 4
We did not observe as many animals in the wild as we (or I) had hoped but there were some interesting sightings, mostly of birds in captivity (the chief's son had both birds of paradise and a carrowary for his future bride). We were taken to the home of Vincent, a Melpa villager who has a garden of about 250 different orchids, a tame and affectionate hornbill named BenBen, a female white Cuscus (a New Guinea marsupial resembling the opossum), a New Guinea eagle (Harpyopsis novaeguineae?) and a yellow-billed mountain lory (Neopsittacus musschenbroekii?). We also had the pleasure of viewing a rather large spider who could not be identified by name (volunteers?).
2 comments:
Not your average collection of pets! Imagine the effort it takes to feed your eagle, lory, cuscus, and hornbill. I bet having these animals around helps the kids grow up with a much deeper understanding of their environment.
Apparently the eagle is of some conservation concern, mostly due to logging I'm sure, but the presence of one as a pet may suggest humans are a direct threat. That is a cool bird to see; I'd never heard of it before.
The Eagle is actually a "Brahminy Kite".
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