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Black-naped pheasant pigeon rediscovered after 140 years

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Black-naped pheasant pigeon rediscovered after last being sighted in 1882

Scientists have rediscovered the black-naped pheasant pigeon, a rare bird that was last sighted almost 140 years ago in Papua New Guinea.

Cameras caught sight of the rare bird on Fergusson Island, spotting the species that hasn’t been documented since it was first described in 1882.

“To find something that’s been gone for that long, that you’re thinking is almost extinct, and then to figure out that it’s not extinct, it feels like finding a unicorn or a Bigfoot,” John C Mittermeier, co-leader of the eight-member expedition, said.

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