Rare Long-Beaked Echidna Spotted in Indonesia After 62 Years, Scientists Confirm

After a 62-year disappearance, scientists have recently confirmed the sighting of a rare long-beaked echidna in Indonesia. The spiky creature was discovered by the team of scientists working on Project Echidna, surprisingly not in Australia but in New Guinea.

New Guinea, the large island located to the north of Australia, is known for its diverse wildlife including wallabies and tree kangaroos. However, scientists had only documented the long-beaked echidnas once before in 1961 by a Dutch botanist in the Cyclops Mountains of New Guinea.

Leading a team from Oxford University, biologist David Attenborough aimed to find the elusive animal locally referred to as “Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna.” This nocturnal species naturally exists at a low density and spends its days hiding in burrows or hollow logs.

Even in 2022, there was still uncertainty among scientists about the existence of this rare species, despite reports from locals. However, the dedicated team succeeded in capturing undeniable evidence through the footage retrieved from 80 remote cameras. The last memory card revealed the remarkable video, proving the creature’s existence.

The long-beaked echidna is closely related to Australia’s echidnas, sharing the trait of being a monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, with the platypus.