Black Cockatoo Crisis

Synopsis

Western Australia’s iconic black cockatoos are in crisis. Their numbers have fallen dramatically over the past few decades and all three species in the southwest of WA could become extinct in just 20 years unless something is done to protect their habitats. With the loss of the banksia woodlands on the Swan Coastal Plain to housing, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos have come to depend on the once vast exotic pine plantations on Perth’s northern fringe.

These pine plantations supply up to half of all the food needed to keep the population of Carnaby’s alive during a crucial few months after nesting. But these too are disappearing. Within the next two years the remaining 6000ha of pines are slated for clearing leaving the cockatoos facing possible starvation.

Meanwhile the Baudin’s Black Cockatoos are literally being shot out of the sky in an unequal battle for food with apple and pear growers in Perth’s hills. And the Red- Tailed Forest Black Cockatoos are under threat from the loss of nesting hollows and declining habitat.

Black Cockatoo Crisis looks at the plight of our special cockatoos and what we can do to stop these threatened species disappearing for ever. The clock is ticking on our black cockatoos. Will we save them in time?