Conservation
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Surveys
carried
out in the 1980s raised alarm when Western Ground
Parrots could
only be located
in a few locations
along the
South Coast. By 1990
it
was
estimated
that
just
under
380
parrots
survived
in the wild.
Over the past two decades vast areas where ground parrots were known to occur have been searched. Survey expeditions have visited heathlands in the Jurien Bay area, D'Entrecasteaux Nat'l Park, Stirling Range Nat'l Park and Nuytsland Nature Reserve, all areas where unconfirmed sightings had been reported. Only in the remote Nuytsland reserve east of Cape Arid a few birds were found in 2004, but more recent surveys have failed to locate this population of ground parrots. In 2003, when the estimated number of Western Ground Parrots had dropped to less than 200 birds, a Western Ground Parrot Recovery Project was launched. The initial goal of the project was the translocation of a number of birds from the Fitzgerald River Nat'l Park to establish a new breeding population west of Albany. However, the number of parrots in the national park had already declined so far, it was deemed too risky to proceed with the translocation. A cat-baiting trial conducted in the area revealed the presence of a considerable number of feral cats. It is feared that cat numbers have increased since the Western Shield fox-baiting program began. More surprisingly, chuditch, a potential parrot predator, were also found in higher numbers than expected. In
the year
2005, after considerable survey efforts had failed
to find any
ground parrots at
Waychinicup, east of
Albany,
population
numbers
had
to
be
revised to less than
180
birds.
To protect the birds from potentially devastating wildfires, prescribed burns have been carried out in Fitzgerald River and Cape Arid National Parks. The aim is to create low fuel buffers around vital habitat. However, this has not always been successful. Understaffing during a 2008 prescribed burn at Cape Arid Nat'l Park had a less than positive outcome when an area occupied by ground parrots was accidentally destroyed by fire. Conservation
efforts
have been financially
supported
by:
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