Endangered Cockatoo
Umbrella Cockatoo
Cacatua alba (white cockatoo)
The Umbrella cockatoo is very common in captivity as a pet. In recent years often overlooked in favour of the colourful Moluccan cockatoo or Salmon Crested cockatoo. This large white cockatoo originates from Indonesia and is now however itself classified on the IUCN Red List as EN (endangered).
Named by many the Umbrella cockatoo due to its large crest, which expands like an umbrella when the bird is excited or stressed.
White cockatoos are extremely large and can be very noisy. They can also be extremely affectionate. They are bred and hand reared for the pet trade in huge numbers around the world. Sadly due to their loud calls and boisterous nature they are often passed on to 2nd and 3rd and even 4th and 5th homes before ending up in rescue.
Here at our Sanctuary we have a lot of Umbrella cockatoo which are ex pets, usually passed on because of the noise or because of biting and/or being unhandleable. These cockatoos are usually purchased when babies and they can turn out to be the child from hell if they are not well cared for and given constant attention, both physically and mentally.
The reasons why this species of cockatoo is classified as endangered are:
This species has undergone a rapid population decline, principally owing to unsustainable levels of exploitation, and declines are predicted to become very rapid in the future based on projected future rates of forest loss along with continued pressure from illegal trade. It has therefore fairly recently been uplisted to endangered.
What is IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature?
IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.