The Port Moresby Nature Park, one of Port Moresby’s biggest attractions, is a sanctuary for those looking to engage with nature.
The award-winning Port Moresby Nature Park has become one of the biggest attractions in the nation’s capital.
The park has more than 550 native animals, many of them rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, or brought into the park as helpless orphans.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit the park hard, with visitors and revenue falling sharply in 2020. However, as Port Moresby residents have learnt to live under the new normal, visitation has returned.
The park is also receiving ongoing support though its appeal on GoFundMe (gofundme.com/f/port-moresby-nature- park039s-wildlife-appeal), which has allowed it to resume its work in wildlife conservation and research.
The park is working on a new Master Plan, which will roll out new wildlife displays, public facilities and an expansion of wildlife rescue and conservation work, providing opportunities for tertiary students and budding researchers to closely study PNG’s wildlife.
The park recently won two awards from the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australia, to add to the awards it won in 2016 and 2018.
The latest awards were for ‘best exhibit design’ for the reptile haus, and the ‘engagement’ award for the park’s Snaketastic program.
Snaketastic was an education program with the message that snakes are important to the environment. It also promoted snake safety (wear shoes to avoid bites), and demonstrated first-aid for snake bite.
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- Cody is another lucky one. The Dorcopsis wallaby is being cared for at the Nature Park after his mother was killed. The marsupials are often targeted by hunters for bush meat.
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- These two Papuan lorikeets are enjoying the nectar from flowering gingers. There’s nothing they like more. The lorikeets thrive in the moist forests of PNG.
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- This is a juvenile green tree python, believe it or not. If you’re wondering why it’s yellow, it’s because they only turn green after they are more than a year old. Their colour – yellow or green – provides ideal camouflage in the moss and among the leaves of rainforests
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- Maddie is one of the luckiest Pesquet’s parrots in Papua New Guinea. The birds, also known as Dracula parrots, are hunted for their bright-red feathers, which are used in traditional bilas. Maddie was rescued after she was found tied to a tree and is now sitting pretty on the shoulder of keeper Emma Oliver. Credit: Nature Park
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- A white-lipped tree frog sits on top of the green tree python, thinking she is resting on a vine. Luckily, the python doesn’t eat frogs as they don’t taste very nice because of the mucus that covers their skin. The snakes much prefer a tasty rat.
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- Keeper Karo Karua hand feeds Georgie, a Matschie’s tree kangaroo that was rescued from a market in Lae. Georgie is being well cared for at the Nature Park and is part of an international breeding program to help save this endangered species.
This article Walk with the animals: Port Moresby Nature Park was first published in the October 2021 issue of PNG Now, PNG’s leading lifestyle magazine.
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