one headdress,” he said. “It’s my tradition (Chimbu in the Highlands) that I must own a bilas (cultural decoration), so if I didn’t look after it and it becomes damaged, I have to go hunt for another one. “If I don’t do this, and participate in the traditional activities in my community, I’m nobody, even if I have money and education.” With the growing tourism and expansion of sing-sings and cultural shows, more pressure is being placed on the collection of feathers to adorn headdresses. A nature park spokesman said one headdress could represent over 10 species of birds of paradise and include more than 20 individual birds. “If you have ever been to a cultural show you will know how big they are and how many birds must have been killed to make such amazing headdresses,” the spokesman said. “Even though they are protected by law and it is illegal to trade, thousands of birds of paradise are killed annually to provide for cultural shows and sing-sings.” To counteract the harvest by overhunting of protected and vulnerable wildlife such as birds of paradise, Port Moresby Nature Park has initiated three educational campaigns. One of these is ‘Lukautim Bilas Bilong Yu’ (Look After Your Cultural Decoration), which encourages people to protect and extend the life of existing items such as feathered headdresses, which reduces their need to kill more wildlife to make new ones. “We know we can’t stop people (from killing wildlife to make bilas) but at least we can stop them killing more than they need to,” Francis said. “In the past we used bamboo tubes and stored all the feathers inside as a dry place, and placed them away above the fire so the smoke protects them from cockroaches and insects.”
The park’s acting conservation manager Francis Gundu feeds Otto, a thriving five-month-old in these photos taken in late February
VOLUME 42 2025
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