Out on a limb to save rare roo Quest focus of film

THE quest of Tableland conservationists Jim and Jean Thomas to save a rare tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea has been immortalised in a feature documentary.

Into the Jungle will screen at Malanda’s Majestic Cinema on Saturday September 8.

Set deep in the North Coast Ranges of Papua New Guinea, the film follows then-newlywed Melbourne zookeepers Jim and Jean Thomas, who packed up and left their safe suburban life in an effort to save the tenkile, a species of tree kangaroo.

“Jim had a keen interest in the tenkile, for me it was because they are marsupials, which are the underdogs of the animal kingdom,” Ms Thomas said.

“We tend to focus on the elephant and the large animals.”

Over the next eight years they endured cultural clashes, physical attacks and many frustrations, with an indigenous population conflicted over changing their traditional ways, while having a rapidly growing number of mouths to feed.

“We had a love-hate relationship with PNG,” Ms Thomas said.

“Sometimes it was fantastic, sometimes it was awful.

“It was a two-year learning curve because we were confronted with things we didn’t have to deal with before.”

The couple worked to convince villages within a 100,000-180,000ha area not to hunt the tree kangaroo and to re-embrace the concept of sustainable hunting.

“With the introduction of government and missionaries, these traditions waned,” Ms Thomas said.

“But now some of the villages are now farming fish like tilapia.

“They needed a project that was not too physically demanding because they are so overworked,” Ms Thomas said.

“Everyone is already out collecting fire wood, building houses, hunting and collecting water.”

The film features insights from Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall and climate council chief Professor Tim Flannery.

It was co-funded with the United Nations Development Fund.

The documentary is scheduled to be screened at the world leaders APEC summit in Port Moresby later this year.

Ms Thomas said she and husband Jim were confident they had made a lasting difference in their eight years in PNG.

“We feel really confident now that if we left that there’s enough empathy not to kill tree kangaroos anymore.”

JIM HAD A KEEN INTEREST IN THE TENKILE, FOR ME IT WAS BECAUSE THEY ARE MARSUPIALS, WHICH ARE THE UNDERDOGS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM