22 July 2025

PNG Highlands – short report

I spent 6 nights at Kumul lodge mainly looking for birds during the day, but did a bit of mammal watching when weather cooperated. Carlos’s trip report covers the area well, as does the Hobcroft (2022) paper, so I am not adding much new here. During the day I spotted a single Calaby’s Pademelon (or Alpine Wallaby) at the lodge, which seems to be getting more comfortable near people, and another individual at night in the forest. Also seen during the day were Speckled Dasyure and Black-tailed Dasyure. At night I saw 3 Masked Ringtail Possum, many Black-tailed Giant Rat, a Moss-Forest Rat and a New Guinea Glider.

There seems to be a significant amount of confusion among the local guides about mammals, so I’d recommend bringing photos and guides to show them pictures (Wilson seems to be the most knowledgeable guide for those of you self-organizing trips). Some guides believe there are tree kangaroo around the lodge, others say they are only found high up on Mount Hagen (seems more plausible). Several of the foreign bird guides also did not know their mammals, so info about what is or is not present in the highlands is not great.

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BrettHartl
Recovering obsessive birder, trying to pay more attention to full diversity of vertebrates (and invertebrates and plants occasionally). I work at the US-based Center for Biological Diversity on endangered species policy and law.
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3 Comments

  • 31 July 2025
    CarlosBocos

    Great stuff Brett! At the moment, I would ignore any comment about tree kangaroos nearby. They call tree kangaroo to anything, from glider to cuscus

  • 10 August 2025
    Jon Hall

    Thanks Brett. Always good to read more about PNG!

  • 28 September 2025
    Daniel Boyland

    I don’t think there are tree-kangaroos around the lodge, but you can see them on Mt Sugarloaf, which isn’t too far away (5°49’10.1″S 143°48’29.2″E). A wildlife guide named Max can arrange trips there. He’s friends with a couple of guys who know where to find the roos. Max charges 100 kina per day, while the two guys charge 50 kina each. So 200 kina total per day for the crew, plus food and transport. Max can meet you at the airport and travel with you into town to buy food, then you’ll take a PMV to the trailhead. The trek up to the grasslands takes a couple of hours. Probably the cheapest way to see wild tree-kangaroos in PNG. Max can be contacted on WhatsApp: +675 7175 3083.

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