Today, I met Merlin, a young red tailed cockatoo who is being nurtured as an education bird at the Kaarakin Cockatoo Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in the hills of Perth. Black Cockatoo Recovery Centre

It is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions when we wilfully allow our indigenous wildlife to be driven to starvation because of loss of habitat – drought, dieback, logging;  bush fires and prescribed burning have brought our cockatoos to the brink of extinction. The competition for food in remaining habitat puts enormous pressure on those pockets of vegetation. It is critical any planned logging in the South West is immediately halted and retained as habitat areas and food sources for these iconic birds.

Within the metropolitan area, land clearing for residential areas needs to be drastically controlled so that known feeding areas for black cockatoos are preserved and integrated into landscape planning for new developments – industrial, suburban and Government infrastructure. Documenting some of the poor planning decisions being made by State and Local Councils helps the community understand how ignorance, greed and lazy public officials are putting the very existence of these incredible birds at risk. [Read more…] about Black Cockatoos Are Starving In Western Australia