A Handbook Of New Guinea Marsupials Monotremes

A Handbook of New Guinea Marsupials & Monotremes

A Handbook of New Guinea's Marsupials and Monotremes

Have you ever seen a string bag decorated with jaw bones or bits of fur and wondered what animal they came from? Or seen animals offered for sale, live or dead, cooked or uncooked, in local markets and wondered what they were? This book may help you to identify local fauna that you may see when you travel around New Guinea and the islands of eastern Indonesia. Here are descriptions or all the native marsupial and monotreme animals with an account of their way of life together with suggestions for further reading and notes on their care in captivity.

Australasian Marsupials and Monotremes

Australia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Indonesia together share all the monotremes (egg-laying mammals) of the world and all the marsupials (pouched mammals) except those of the Americas. There is an urgent need for concerted action to conserve the marsupials and monotremes of the Australasian region. Australia has the worst extinction rate for the mammals of any continent or country and Papua New Guinea and eastern Indonesia are undergoing rapid development which, if not properly planned and controlled, could threaten the habitat of many marsupials, as well as other species.This Action Plan provides an overall perspective of the problems that confront conservation agencies and NGOs in the region and recommends actions required before the year 2000.