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Interviews: Searching for the Poisonous Pitohui

Beehler is hunting the rare bird in one of the most remote and wild places on the planet Enlarge image i

Beehler is hunting the rare bird in one of the most remote and wild places on the planet — the Arfak mountain range in the Papua Province of Indonesia.

Conservation International
Beehler is hunting the rare bird in one of the most remote and wild places on the planet

Beehler is hunting the rare bird in one of the most remote and wild places on the planet — the Arfak mountain range in the Papua Province of Indonesia.

Conservation International

Conservationist Bruce Beehler is pushing through a wild and mostly undeveloped area of Indonesia in search of a mysterious and poisonous bird native to Papua New Guinea, the pitohui.

So far, his only lead and guide is a local shaman, who uses poison from the bird in his rituals.

From the Arfak mountain range in the Papua Province of Indonesia — an area popularly known as the Bird's Head Peninsula — Beehler talks about his quest with Alex Chadwick.

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