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 Flora
& Fauna
The
Birds and Butterflies of Tufi
Situated
on the coast amongst pristine rainforest Tufi offers
a wide variety of spectacular wildlife. Both the bird-life
and the insects that live there rival even the exceptional
marine-life in their diversity, colour and size.
Oro
Province is home to the world's largest butterfly,
the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, specimens of which
have been measured at 30cm across the wings. The world's
largest grasshopper, longest stick insect and longest
beetle also live in the Tufi area.
So far in Papua
New Guinea nearly 1000 butterflies and 40,000 beetles
have been discovered amongst its 200,000 or so insect
species. New species are being discovered all the
time, many of which are large and colourful.
The blue
Ulysses butterfly and bright green Priam's Birdwing
are common visitors to the Dive Centre's grounds,
attracted in by the variety of nectar bearing colourful
plants, such as Hibiscus, Poinsettia and Frangipani.
 
The
variety in bird-life is just, if not more spectacular.
Birds rarely seen elsewhere abound around Tufi and
its unique fiords. Black Palm Cockatoos, Blythe's
Hornbills (or Kokomos), Osprey and Raggiana Birds
of Paradise are all on the list for any bird watchers
coming to Tufi.
 Lories and lorikeets frequent the
grounds, as do a variety of other species that provide
a musical wakeup call every morning. In the surrounding
areas it is possible to see the largest pigeon in
the world, the Queen Victoria Crowned Pigeon, a very
spectacular bird indeed.
 For the genuine birdwatcher
there is a myriad of other species to see, including
several types of birds of paradise, numerous raptors
(including the Long-tailed Buzzard and New Guinea
Harpy Eagle), many parrots (Eclectus parrots are exceedingly
common), even cassowaries and bush turkeys.
Whilst
the mammal fauna of Papua New Guinea can be somewhat
secretive, there is the opportunity to occasionally
see cuscuses, wallabies, echidnas and tree kangaroos,
some of which are kept as pets in local villages.
Orchids
 The Tufi region and surrounding areas are renowned for their diversity and abundance of orchids, with common to extremely rare species in exotic abundance.
With perhaps ten percent of all known orchid species endemic to New Guinea and many of those existing within Oro Province, keen orchidists should definitely consider placing Tufi on their holiday wish list. Within a few minutes walk of the Resort, extensive colonies of Spathoglottis papuana can be seen growing on the rock faces of the fjord.
For more information on the orchids of New Guinea, please visit the Papua New Guinea Orchid News web site.
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