Rare Sumatra Ground Cuckoo caught on camera in Sumatra

28/03/2007 00:00:00 Scientists working in the forests of Sumatra have photographed one of Indonesia’s rarest birds. A team from Indonesian and Britain conducting a tiger survey in a former logging concession near Kerinci Seblat National Park recorded a bird in their camera traps that they were not expecting.

‘We’ve seen Rhinoceros Hornbills and Great Argus Pheasants before but when we discovered that we had a Sumatran Ground Cuckoo, we couldn’t believe it,’ reported team leader Mr Yoan Dinata of
Fauna & Flora International’s (FFI) Indonesia Programme. The endemic Sumatran Ground Cuckoo (Carpococcyx viridis) has only been recorded once in 90 years, and then only in southern Sumatra
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‘Rediscovering this critically endangered bird close to Kerinci Seblat is especially exciting,’ said Dr Matthew Linkie of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at Kent University. ‘We’ve recently shown how critical Kerinci Seblat is for the long-term survival of Sumatran tigers but discovering the Sumatran Ground Cuckoo gives me hope, as it was photographed in disturbed forest that has been left to recover near the national park, and because we have taught young Indonesian scientists to lead camera trapping teams that undertake routine monitoring.’

Sumatran rainforests have some of the world’s greatest biodiversity but they are also amongst the world’s most threatened rainforests. The ongoing deforestation for farmland expansion that follows selective logging is of major concern as it completely destroys the forest habitat.

Courtesy of FFI.