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 Rooted in scientific research, the Tree Kangaroo Conservation
Program’s work with tree kangaroos and related studies
has sparked international interest in the region and has been
the primary force in launching efforts to establish a Wildlife
Management Area (WMA) on the Huon Peninsula in Papua, New Guinea.
The Huon Peninsula is biologically unique, with habitats ranging
from coral reefs to montane rainforests to sub-alpine grasslands.
The TKCP's 80,000 acre conservation area is the first formal
conservation area on the Huon Peninsula and the protected area
now extends to the coast. The ultimate goal of the TKCP is
the establishment of a 150,000 acre Wildlife Management Area
that will extend from sea level to 4,000 meter mountains ranges.
In 2003 the TKCP, working with local landowners, established
a new field site called Wasaunon. This new field site will serve
as a base for research on the ecologies and home range sizes
of both the Matschie’s tree kangaroo and the long-beaked
echidna using radio telemetry. Wasaunon is extremely significant
because it has not been hunted for a generation and there is
evidence both species thrive in this area of high-altitude rainforest
and grasslands. TKCP field scientists first assessed the site
in 2003. In November of 2003 a month long effort to search for
tree kangaroos and long-beaked echidnas and document locations
was undertaken. Five wild tree kangaroos were observed. In March
of 2004 three female tree kangaroos were successfully captured
and fitted with radio transmitters. The data collected will be
analyzed this fall but already patterns of movement have been
observed. Individual females even showed preferences for certain
trees within their range.
In March 2005 Christine McKnight, Topics Zookeeper, will be
joining the TKCP field team to radio collar additional animals.
The goal will be to fit five individuals, hopefully of both sexes,
with radio transmitters. Dr. Lisa Dabek, project director, said
she would like to see the TKCP become a model for utilizing keepers
in field research. Christine will be the first keeper from an
AZA institution to participate in the TKCP’s field research.
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