Cockatoo
Friends of Nature, People and Forests (FNPF) is working to rebuild the wild lesser sulphur-crested cockatoos population on our Nusa Penida island bird sanctuary. When we started only three cockatoos, all of them female, remained on the island. They live around the temple in Sedihing village, and the community are proud of the birds and protect them.
The village leader says there have always been cockatoos at the temple. His great grandfather told him when he was a child about 20 cockatoos lived at the temple. No one knows why the bird numbers have declined; the village is so remote it’s unlikely outsiders took them.
Our team have released several male birds, some rehabilitated, some hand-reared, to add to the wild female population, in the hope they will mate and increase their numbers. Funding from the World Parrot Trust has also helped us conduct intensive short-term monitoring of the Sedihing village cockatoo population.
FNPF is seeking help from certified breeders and animal rescue centers to bring other lesser sulphur-crested cockatoos to Nusa Penida for rehabilitation and release.