Only recorded once previously in the last 90 years, the rare Sumatran Ground Cuckoo, Carpococcyx viridis, was photographed by a camera trap operated by a joint Indonesian and British team of scientists surveying for tigers in a former logging concession close to Kerinci Seblat National Park in northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
"We’ve photographed Rhinoceros Hornbills and Great Argus before but we couldn’t believe it when we photographed a Sumatran Ground-cuckoo," said Yoan Dinata, field team leader of Fauna & Flora International’s Indonesia Programme.
"Re-finding this Critically Endangered species close to Kerinci Seblat is especially exciting,” said project manager Dr Matthew Linkie of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent.
"We’ve recently shown how critical Kerinci Seblat is for the long-term survival of Sumatran tigers [a reference to a study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology], but finding the Sumatran Ground-cuckoo gives me hope, because it was photographed in disturbed forest that had been left to recover near the national park," he added.
Sumatran rainforests contain some of the world’s richest biodiversity but they are also among the world’s most threatened forests. The ongoing threat of deforestation by farmland expansion that follows selective logging is of greatest concern because it completely removes forest habitat.
This example illustrates the value of technologies such as camera traps, to allow non-invasive monitoring of "hard to spot" species like the ground cuckoo. Their use can provide invaluable evidence of species' movements and behaviour, as well as evidence to support the need for ongoing preservation of sites like Kerinci Seblat, as the remaining strong holds of rare endemics.
For the full story, download the full press release from Fauna & Flora International.