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A remote camera trap photographed the Mindoro bleeding-heart pigeon (Gallicolumba platenae) in the Puerto Galera rainforest in August 2026; the rediscovery was announced on 3 September 2026.
It is the first confirmed photographic record of the critically endangered species in 20 years - the last was in December 2005 near Sablayan Prison.
The bird is endemic to the Philippine island of Mindoro and is named for the red patch on its breast.
The camera traps were placed under the Mindoro Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Programme at over 900 metres elevation in the Iraya Mangyan ancestral domain.
The species had been added to the Search for Lost Birds list in early 2026, only months before it was found.
Philippine conservation non-profit that ran the camera-trap project with Iraya Mangyan communities under the Mindoro Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Programme.
Global partnership of bird conservation organisations; it maintains the IUCN Red List assessments for birds. Its Alex Berryman independently confirmed the identification.
The UNESCO programme under which biosphere reserves, including Puerto Galera, are designated for conservation, sustainable use and research.
Mindoro is a large island in the western Philippines, south-west of Luzon across the Verde Island Passage and east of the Palawan chain. Puerto Galera sits on its northern coast; Sablayan, site of the 2005 record, lies on the western side. The Iraya Mangyan are one of the indigenous Mangyan groups of northern Mindoro.
A bird is caught in a snare near Sablayan Prison, photographed and released - the last confirmed record for two decades.
An audio recording tentatively attributed to the species is made, but is never verified.
The species is added to the Search for Lost Birds list of species unconfirmed for long periods.
A remote camera trap photographs the bird in the Puerto Galera rainforest above 900 metres.
The rediscovery is announced - the first confirmed photographic record in 20 years.
GS Paper III > Environment: biodiversity, endemism, IUCN Red List categories
General Awareness > Environment and current affairs
A species found naturally in only one geographic area - here, the single island of Mindoro.
The highest IUCN Red List threat category before Extinct in the Wild and Extinct.
A site designated under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme for conservation, sustainable use and research.