A new species of giant rat weighing 1,5 kilo has been discovered deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, BBC online reports Monday.
The rat, which has no fear of humans, measures 82 cm long, placing it among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world. The creature was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme “Lost Land of the Volcano”.
It is one of a number of exotic animals found by the expedition team. Like the other exotic species, the rat is believed to live within the Mount Bosavi crater, and nowhere else.
– I had a cat and it was about the same size as this rat, says a member of the expedition.
Mount Bosavi is an extinct volcano that lies deep in the remote Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The expedition team entered the crater to explore pristine forest, where few humans have set foot.
Even members of the Kasua tribe, who acted as trackers for the expedition, live outside the crater, which is 4 km wide and has walls up to one km high, trapping the creatures that live within.
Broadcast of The Lost Land of the Volcano series will begin on BBC One on Tuesday 8 September at 21.00 BST (britisk tid). The discovery of the Bosavi woolly rat is broadcast as part of the series on BBC One on Tuesday 22 September.
