The small dorcopsis or lesser forest wallaby (''Dorcopsulus vanheurni'') is a species of

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

in the family

Macropodidae Macropodidae is a family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and ar ...

. It is found in the mountainous interior of West Papua and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is less common than it used to be and the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed it as being "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

Names

It is known as sgaw in the

Kalam language Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Provinc ...

.Pawley, Andrew and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. ''A Dictionary of Kalam with Ethnographic Notes''. Canberra. Pacific Linguistics.

Distribution and habitat

The small dorcopsis is endemic to the island of New Guinea, being present in hill and upland habitats in the central mountain chain, at altitudes between . It used to occur in the

Schrader Range Schrader Range is a mountain range in central Papua New Guinea. It is a part of the Bismarck Range The Bismarck Range is a mountain range in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. The range is named after the German Chancellor, Ot ...

, the Hunstein Range and the

Torricelli Mountains The Torricelli Mountains are a mountain range in Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains are ...

but no longer does, and it may no longer be present in the

Adelbert Range Adelbert Range is a mountain range in Madang Province, north-central Papua New Guinea. The highest point of the mountains is at . The Northern Adelbert languages and Southern Adelbert languages are spoken in the region. Fauna and flora As with ...

. Its natural habitat is both primary and secondary forests, and forest glades, and it is often found near streams. Each animal has a home range of one to one and a half hectares.

Use as food

The small dorcopsis is one of a number of species of animal used by the Etolo people as food. It is usually caught in traps or taken after being brought down by hunting dogs. The Etolo people cultivate gardens and at the time of preparing and growing the crops resort to trapping as they are too busy to go hunting. At the end of the growing season, from December onwards, they go hunting and catch other animals with few small dorcopsis being taken.

Status

The small dorcopsis is assessed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

as being "

", and even approaching the " vulnerable" category. This is on the basis that it was once a common species but has become much less common, especially near human settlements, because it is hunted for food by the indigenous people and is preyed on by the

New Guinea singing dog The New Guinea singing dog or New Guinea Highland dog is an ancient ( basal) lineage of dog found in the New Guinea Highlands, on the island of New Guinea. Once considered to be a separate species in its own right, under the name ''Canis hallst ...

s which roam in the interior of the island.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q209624 Macropods Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals described in 1922 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Marsupials of New Guinea