Ancient Wild Dog Population Feared Extinct, Now Captured on Camera!

The New Guinea highland wild dog is thought to be the rarest species of canine. It is a type of dog native to the New Guinea Highlands of the island of New Guinea, which lies to the north of Australia. The dog is noted for its unique vocalization.

The New Guinea highland wild dog hasn’t been seen for more than 50 years and was thought to be extinct. That is, until a recent sighting of them in their natural island habitat on the South Pacific island.

The discovery is extremely important for the scientists who have been trying to find conclusive evidence that these dogs still roamed the Earth.

Zoologist James K. McIntyre, along with a group of National Geographic researchers, took a trip to the Papua Province. During their trip, they discovered a muddy paw-print, which made them believe that the dogs still exist but they needed more evidence.

They decided to put camera traps throughout the forests of the new Guinea highlands, hoping to catch some of these dogs on tape. Their idea was very good as their plan worked! The camera recorded more than 140 pictures of the dogs in two days on the mountain Summit of Puncak Jaya. The pictures show males, females and puppies in many different colors such as golden, cream, ginger, roan and black, with different markings and patterns.