#cyclops mountains

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

echidna!

Have you seen the Attenborough's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)?

I have now

Yes, in photos/videos

Yes, irl

I'm not sure

Voting ended onJul 25, 2025

This species is locally known as Payangko, and was thought to be extinct until November 2023. Photos thanks to video footage from the expedition led by Dr. James Kempton, from Oxford University.

[zsl-edge-of-existence]

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna is the smallest and by far the rarest of the long-beaked echidnas, found only in the Cyclops Mountains of Papua New Guinea.  It is known only from a single specimen collected in the early 60s, the taxidermied body of which is somewhat the worse for wear after over 50 years.  Although the animal has not been seen since, recent expeditions have found signs of their presence, and local indigenous villagers still swear that the echidnas are around, and can describe it accurately.  The animal was once hunted heavily as a delicacy, and had important cultural significance, as the sharing of echidna meat was said to bring peace between feuding families.  Now, however, the echidna has grown so rare that to be sent hunting for it is considered a punishment for some of the worst crimes.  Hunters have been known to commit suicide rather than risk going out to complete this sentence.