by Matthew Power

The Atavist No. 9, October/November 2011

If geologist, adventurer and risk-prone eccentric John Lane can prove the existence of the elusive tree kangaroo on the remote Pacific island of New Britain, he just might be able to save one of the last truly wild endangered forests on earth. But first he and his ragtag expedition party—college students, adventure-seeking biologists, disinterested local teenagers—will have to find the rare animal. Award-winning journalist Matthew Power plunges into one of the world’s most forbidding jungles alongside Lane. It is a quest that’s equal parts noble, dangerous and wacky, in a place that’s truly off the map.

“In this wonderful piece of modern reportage, tree kangaroos, ‘wicked’ self-inflicted machete wounds, shot-down WW II pilots, conservation, and eyeball-sucking leeches all converge in one beautiful, terrifying, largely unexplored place. That it took Matthew Power—one of our most hilariously indomitable travel writers—to bring back this story will surprise no one.” —Tom Bissell, author of Extra Lives and Chasing the Sea

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