Piccaninny Plains is jointly owned and managed by Australian Wildlife Conservancy ("AWC") and The Tony & Lisette Lewis Foundation.
Covering more than 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres), Piccaninny Plains lies in the heart of
Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland.It is a region of global significance for conservation with stunning ecological diversity containing rainforests,
woodlands, wetlands and grasslands.
Cape York was connected to New Guinea for much of the last 250,000 years until submerged due to post glacial sea level rise about 6,500 years ago. As a result Piccaninny Plains is
home to a rich biological diversity strongly influenced by the interchange of fauna with New Guinea.Piccaninny Plains combines iconic Australian wildlife with a unique evolutionary blend of New Guinea species.Thus we see many iconic Australian species such as Wallabies, Emu, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Eclectus Parrot, Trumpet Manucode, spectacular Riflebird, Jabiroo, and Brolga living side by side with exotic New Guinea species such as the Spotted Cuscus, Papuan Frogmouth and the magnificent Palm Cockatoo.