Why in the News?

An elusive echidna feared extinct after disappearing for six decades has been rediscovered in a remote part of Indonesia, on an expedition that also found a new kind of tree-dwelling shrimp.

About Attenborough's long-beaked echidna:

• Attenborough's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi), also known as Sir David's long-beaked echidna or the Cyclops long-beaked echidna.
• It is an egg-laying mammal native to the Cyclops Mountains in the northern Indonesian region of Papua.
•  It is one of three species of long-beaked echidna, and is the smallest and most threatened of the three.
• The echidna was named after naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
• The echidna is a nocturnal animal, and it is most active at night.
• It spends its days sleeping in burrows, and it emerges at night to forage for food.
• The echidna's diet consists of ants, termites, beetles, and other insects.
• Attenborough's long-beaked echidna is classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.