Playful, mischievous and highly intelligent, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos are adored by thousands, hunted by many and saved by few. Endemic to the south-west region of Western Australia, only a small pocket of these large, gregarious birds remain and these are permanently under threat.

A Carnaby's Black Cockatoo

Some are still being poached and smuggled for private collections. Many are illegally shot. Together with land clearing, loss of native food habitat and injury from man-made structures, the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is plummeting towards extinction.

Species recovery is an uphill struggle, only two percent of new-born chicks make it to adulthood. The odds are against them. Hope for their future lies in the hands of the local community and one man in particular, Senior Wildlife Investigator Rick Dawson.

This year Rick is determined to protect one small family of Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos at a ‘high risk’ nesting site he calls ‘The Stump’. Over the last four years the parents have lost their chicks to poachers. With their species numbers more than halved over the last forty years, it is vital for the survival of their kind that the Stump pair breeds successfully this season. Rick will do whatever it takes&hellip Read more