2016 Papua New Guinea – Aragilpora Village
We were told by Papua New Guinea government employee Henry Baul that an animal bigger than a monkey but smaller than an ape lives in trees in the mountains in the Cape Grossa area.
Henry said he has seen pictures of both apes and monkeys so he can tell the difference between the two. He wasn’t sure if it had a tail or not.
He said that the natives in Aragilpora told him the creatures sit in trees and will break and throw sticks at you when they get upset. He said it’s the only animal he knows of that fights back with people rather than run. Once a baby was taken but died soon afterward. Leo Sangeo of the Crocodile Point area said he saw a picture of one and thought it was merely a Tree Kangaroo. I have both emailed and called tree kangaroo expert Dr Lisa Dabek in regards to the stick throwing behavior which seems more primate like than something a tree kanagaroo would do. I have not received a response from her as of yet. Henry additionally told Brian and I he had heard of a potentially very large un-discovered bat species that lives in caves in the area. He said it has very big eye balls and reportedly builds a nest with its saliva.