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Scientists discover giant rat in Indonesia's Papua

Dec 17, 2007, 11:56 GMT

Jakarta - Scientists have discovered two mammals believed to be new to science during an expedition to Indonesia's remote eastern province of Papua, Conservation International said Monday. Scientists from the group and the Indonesian Institute of Science visited the Foja Mountains in June, following a first trip in late 2005 that saw them discover dozens of new plants and animals, the state said. The area won international fame after a December 2005 survey turned up dozens of new species and gave urgency to conservation efforts in a region where logging and forest-clearing for agriculture are a serious concern. 'It's comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature,' said Conservation International vice president Bruce Beehler, who led the expedition. 'We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited.' During the recent expedition, the team documented two mammals, a Cercartetus pygmy possum, one of the world's smallest marsupials, and a Mallomys giant rat, that appear to be new to science. The rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat and visited the scientists' camp several times, apparently lacking any fear of humans. The researchers also recorded the mating displays of several rare and little-known birds for the first time, the statement said. The Fojas are part of the Mamberamo Basin, the largest tropical forest in the Asia-Pacific without roads, which the Indonesian government has declared a wildlife sanctuary. The scientists plan a third expedition in late 2008 or 2009 to survey the summit forests of the highest peak, and the little-studied lower elevations, where they expect to find additional unknown species of frogs, mammals, butterflies and plants. Activists have already warned that the forests in the area are under threat form large-scale depredation. Indonesia, which is losing its forests at the world's fastest rate,is struggling to safe its rain-forest from deforestation. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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AndrewDec 17th, 2007 - 13:50:22

It is sad that the world listens when two animals are found, but 45 years of what Yale University Law School calls genocide in its 2004 report 'Indonesian Human Rights Abuses in West Papua:
Application of the Law of Genocide to the History of Indonesian Control' remains unspoken.

Over three hundred cultures each with tens of thousands of years of successful history are being wiped out by the Indonesian military and American gold mining; where is the human response to this?

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