Saving Kyloring
Saving Kyloring
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Saving Kyloring is challenging for many reasons, including the small number of birds spread over a very large and remote area, our incomplete knowledge about their biology, ecology and threat tolerances, the cryptic nature of the birds, and the difficulties in attracting adequate and secure funding. Mitigating threats such as predation by feral cats and introduced foxes, and managing wildfires is difficult, and exacerbated by climate change.
The South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Plan addresses the major threats affecting the survival of the Western Ground Parrot and five other threatened species and outlines recovery strategies.
Additionally, experts determined priority strategies at the 2016 Creating a Future for the Western Ground Parrot workshop.
Western Ground Parrot at Perth Zoo
Setting up recording units in remote habitat
As the birds are rarely seen, the most reliable method to establish their presence is through listening for their calls. To do this, a grid of acoustic recording units (ARUs) are placed in the field for months at a time to capture bird calls.
In a labour-intensive process, these recordings are later analysed to determine whether or not Western Ground Parrots were present and to assess the status of the overall population.
AI-based call recognition is starting to improve the processing and analysis of these large ARU data sets which have the potential to reveal significant information such as their feeding and breeding locations and the success of breeding events. We support ongoing research to improve this process. Our newsletter contains more details.
Perth Zoo
In 2009 and 2010 a small number of young Western Ground Parrots were captured from the wild population at Cape Arid National Park to investigate whether they could be kept in captivity.
In July 2014 seven birds were transferred to Perth Zoo with the goal of establishing a breeding program to boost the critically low numbers and to learn more about their biology.
The birds at Perth Zoo are monitored around the clock by a sophisticated CCTV system, increasing knowledge about their behaviour and husbandry. The parrots have courted, mated, laid eggs and nested but no chicks have hatched at the Zoo to date.
Mate feeding at Perth Zoo
Artificial reproduction trial
Unlike many other parrot species, Western Ground Parrots are extremely difficult to breed in captivity.
In 2023, with help from renowned German experts Professor Dr Michael Lierz from the Justus-Liebig-Universität in Giessen and Dr Dominik Fischer from Zoo Wuppertal, Perth Zoo’s animal carers undertook an artificial insemination procedure on the Western Ground Parrot – a world first for the species!
Translocation
Western Ground Parrot with tracking device
After years of preparatory work by the Parks and Wildlife Service, including intensive research and risk assessment, a plan was developed to take wild birds from Cape Arid National Park to an area east of Albany where they were previously present.
Extensive predator management and fire mitigation measures were undertaken prior to translocating a total of 19 birds between 2021 and 2023. The birds were initially monitored with tracking devices which detached after several months. Monitoring continues via ARUs.
The knowledge acquired by the Perth Zoo was a critical factor in the success of the ground-breaking wild-to-wild translocations.
Find out more in this video, this article in Landscope Magazine and in our recent newsletters.
The future looks brighter
In 2024 Western Ground Parrot chick whistles were recorded at the translocation site and three months later calls of juvenile birds were detected. This is a promising sign of breeding.
There is strong evidence that the removal of the birds for the translocation has had minimal impact on the population at Cape Arid/Nuytsland.
Both populations continue to be intensively monitored and managed by the Parks and Wildlife Service.
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