Two dead, four injured in small plane crash in Alaska

Two people were killed and four others injured in a small plane crash near Alaska's Lower Yukon Valley that had rescuers searching for more than 14 hours, authorities said on Sunday.

The four survivors were rescued from the wreckage of the Cessna 207 aircraft on Sunday morning on a mountainous area about 150 miles west of Anchorage, said Beth Ipsen, a spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers.

"The survivors were transported to a hospital in Anchorage where they are receiving treatment for their injuries. I don't have information in their injuries or conditions. Hopefully they'll be okay," Ipsen told Reuters.

Authorities did not release the identities of the victims pending notification of their families, and Ipsen said she did not know if the pilot was among the survivors.

The passengers included all three teachers assigned to the school in the Athabascan village of Anvik, including one married couple and their two children, ages 8 and 10, Karen Ladegard, superintendent for the Iditarod School District that includes Anvik, told the Anchorage Daily News.

Troopers got an emergency call from Inland Aviation, the private company that owns the plane, on Saturday night, she said.

But rescuers could not reach the crash site until Sunday morning due to bad weather, Ipsen said.

Ipsen said the plane was traveling from Anvik, Alaska, to the town of McGrath when it issued an SOS distress call at 8:22 p.m. to the aviation company.

The site was pinpointed by GPS around 37 miles west of McGrath, Ipsen said. The only communication after that was a weak distress transmission on Sunday morning, she said.

Attempts were made to reach the site overnight by the Alaska National Guard, Inland and commercial planes, she said.

The National Weather Service said the temperatures in McGrath overnight hovered around the upper 50s.

An Alaska National Guard helicopter finally reached the site on Sunday, Ipsen said.

She did not have any information on the survivors' conditions or what went wrong with the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating, she said.

Random Facts about Tree Kangaroo

Many species of tree kangaroos are spotted in the rain forests, mountainous area and even in the lowlands. They are spread over Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Tree kangaroos belong to Macropodidae family, that spend their life on trees. These animals are marsupials, who give birth to undeveloped young ones. There are around 12 subspecies of tree kangaroos and each one varies in color, pelage (fur) and size. Of these Grizzled Tree-kangaroo, Ursine Tree-kangaroo, Matschie's Tree-kangaroo, Doria's Tree-kangaroo, Seri's Tree-kangaroo, Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo, Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo, Lowlands Tree-kangaroo, Dingiso, Tenkile are from New Guinea and Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo and Bennett's Tree-kangaroo are from Australia. It is believed that the tree kangaroos descend from animals that were similar to kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons. Among the many species of Macropodidae family, some adapted themselves to live on the ground, while some went back to live in the trees.

Tree Kangaroos are typically built for living on trees. These macropods have shorter and wider feet, with longer claws. This allows them to move faster on trees. Tree kangaroos are slow and clumsy and tend to walk awkwardly on ground. Their long tail is heavy and makes balancing difficult, when they come on ground. However, they are agile and fast on trees. They have big hind legs and small forelimbs, which makes climbing easy for them. They also have the ability to jump from one tree to another and their long tail provides a great support while moving around on trees. It is very interesting to learn and understand the amazing adaptations of a Tree Kangaroo. Given below are a few facts of this agile arboreal animal.

Facts about Tree Kangaroo

• Tree Kangaroos are excellent leapers and can jump up to 9m from one tree to another. They can even jump from 18m of height in order to land on the ground.
• It is 4 feet tall and weighs up to 30 pounds.
• Tree Kangaroos have a reddish brown pelage, which has a dark stripe that runs down its back. The ears, stomach and feet are red while the face is pale in appearance.
• The length of the tail is equal to the length of the body. The tail helps to maintain balance while climbing and moving from one tree to other.
• These Kangaroo has a rubbery sole that helps them climb the trees swiftly.
• As this kangaroo specie is even found in lowlands, they are named as lowland tree kangaroos.
• Tree kangaroos are frugivores and herbivores.
• Sap, eggs, grains, flowers, barks are the other favorite food items of Tree Kangaroo.
• Tree kangaroos prefer living alone. They only come together for the purpose of mating.
• The gestation period lasts for 32 days after which the female gives live birth to one joey, which stays in the pouch till it completely develops to be able to survive in the wild.
• The young one takes up to 10-12 months to develop. After it has grown well, it remains close to its mother until it becomes independent.
• Males go on to bond with other females, who are quiet independent themselves. However, females only share a strong bond with their young ones.
• An adult male and female weighs around 15-30 pounds. They live up to 20 years.
• The young ones of the Kangaroo are very playful and stay in the vicinity of their mother.
• The Tree Kangaroos are Australia's largest arboreal animals.
• This specie of macropods, lick themselves to keep themselves cool during the hot whether.
• Among the many Tree Kangaroo species, the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo are threatened while the Dingisco specie has suffered a major decline in their population.

Tree Kangaroos can only survive well on trees, but due to the cutting down of forests and other developments in their habitat area has causing a major decline in Tree Kangaroo species. The Tree Kangaroos are majorly hunted for their meat and fur. As they are slow on ground they often get preyed on by dogs and other animals. Certain conservation programs are working on conservation of Tree Kangaroos and protecting their dwindling population.