Press Release
Mungumby Lodge: Where Tourism and Scientific Discovery Meet in Australia’s Tropical Rainforest
Cooktown, Far North Queensland
For the past four decades, Hamish Haslop has watched Far North Queensland continue to reveal its extraordinary biological secrets.
“Back in the early 1980s, I was amazed by the number of new species being discovered in the region,” said Mr Haslop. “At the time, around ten new species were being formally described every year. It made me realise that despite all we thought we knew about Australia’s wildlife, this incredible part of the world still held countless mysteries.”
That fascination with the natural world became a lifelong journey.
Over the next three decades, Hamish built a career in ecotourism, living on rainforest-covered islands of the Great Barrier Reef, project managing rainforest resort developments at Cape Tribulation, and later, together with his partner Isabella, purchasing Mungumby Lodge near Cooktown.
For the past 25 years, Mungumby Lodge has become much more than a nature-based tourism destination. Surrounded by ancient rainforest bordering World Heritage-listed wilderness, it has evolved into an informal meeting place for wildlife enthusiasts and scientists studying some of Australia’s most remarkable wildlife.
Researchers investigating tree kangaroos, Micro bats, rare frogs, reptiles, spiders, insects, marsupials and birds have all spent time at the lodge, using it as a base for fieldwork in one of Australia’s richest biodiversity hotspots.
One particularly memorable discovery was an unusual Peripatus, or velvet worm, whose remarkable evolutionary significance attracted the attention of Sir David Attenborough. The ancient creature featured in the acclaimed documentary First Life, with Mungumby Lodge serving as one of the filming locations for the production.
More recently, another remarkable rainforest resident has placed the region in the international scientific spotlight.
For several years, Dr Greg Anderson, Emeritus Fellow at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, has regularly visited Mungumby Lodge and surrounding rainforest areas pursuing his passion for spider research. During one of these visits, he observed an extraordinary species exhibiting a highly unusual hunting behaviour.
This spider employs a sophisticated spring-actuated mechanism that stores energy in a high-tension snare. When the snare is bitten by an ant, the spider’s specific prey, the ant is catapulted with explosive speed into the spider’s web where it meets its end. The discovery attracted the interest of Dr Jonas Wolf from the University of Greifswald in Germany and Dr Ajay Narendra from Macquarie University in Sydney. Dr Narendera then used specialised high-speed camera systems to capture the remarkable behaviour. After ten days of patient observation and filming in the rainforest surrounding Mungumby Lodge, Dr Narendera successfully documented the mechanism in action.
Their findings have now been published in the prestigious journal Current Biology, providing new insights into one of nature’s most sophisticated biomechanical systems.
The research has generated worldwide media attention, with coverage by the ABC, BBC, CNN, Discovery Channel, Scientific American, The Times, The New York Times, and Irish national media.
For Hamish Haslop, the international interest reinforces something he has believed since first visiting Far North Queensland more than 40 years ago.
“People come to Mungumby Lodge for the birds, the rainforest, the peace and the beauty,” he said. “What many don’t realise is that they are also visiting one of the world’s great natural laboratories. There are still species waiting to be discovered and behaviours waiting to be understood. Every researcher who stays here reminds us that the rainforest continues to surprise even the world’s leading scientists.”
“As tourism operators, we’re incredibly proud that Mungumby Lodge has been able to support this research simply by providing a welcoming base for scientists working in the field. Every new discovery adds another chapter to the story of this remarkable landscape.”
The publication of the latest research highlights the global scientific importance of the rainforests surrounding Cooktown and Cape York, reinforcing the region’s reputation as one of Australia’s most significant centres of biodiversity and natural discovery.
Media Contact
Hamish & Isabella Haslop
Custodians Mungumby Lodge
Cooktown, Far North Queensland
Editor’s Note: Copies of the published paper in Current Biology and a summary of international media coverage are available upon request.
