How to save a rock star from extinction

The charismatic and highly mobile Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is regarded as the ‘Rock Star’ of the Australian bird world. It now classified in WA as ‘rare or likely to become extinct’ and federally listed as Endangered. The last 50 years has seen a 50% decline in their population, and their range has been reduced by up to one-third. It is one of three black cockatoos found in southwest Western Australia. The others are Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo and a subspecies of the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo. These birds are endemic to the South West region of Western Australia, meaning that they are found nowhere else in the world. All three are threatened. Because cockatoos are long-lived birds (up to 50 years) and they raise few chicks to adulthood, it is highly likely that the birds we see today are an ageing population. So what happens when this highly mobile species faces a ‘perfect storm’ of threats from urban sprawl, clearing of nesting and roosting habitat and even its last refugia, an introduced species of pine, is being logged. Is its immenent extinction a failure of policy by State and Commonwealth governments? Marc Wohling speaks to Samantha Vine and Dr Jess Lee from Birdlife Australia to find out. If you would like to donate to the Black Cockatoo Recovery Project go to the Birdlife Australia link