Carnaby's cockatoos killed in WA storm

Severe weather kills threathend cockatoos. Image by HelenMore than 30 endangered Carnaby's cockatoos died during a severe storm that struck Perth this week and many more were injured, authorities say.

Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) officers and veterinary staff from Perth Zoo are working to save 10 of the black cockatoos that were injured in Monday's storm, which dumped heavy hail and destructive rain.

Perth Zoo received 23 birds with soft tissue and skeletal injuries.

Three of them had to be euthanased, and one died from its injuries.

Nine birds were sent to a cockatoo recovery centre in Perth's southern suburbs.

WA Environment Minister Donna Faragher said the storms had had a significant impact on wildlife around Perth.

"So far, 56 Carnaby's black cockatoos have been affected by the severe weather, with 36 having tragically died," Ms Faragher said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Some of the dead birds have been taken to the WA Museum for research purposes."

The cockatoos are only found in the southwest of WA.

WWF spokeswoman Katherine Howard said the species, believed to have declined by 50 per cent in the past 50 years, had lost more than a third of its former habitat.

She said the cockatoos were under increasing pressure on a number of fronts.

About 200 birds died in Hopetoun, in the state's south, during severe heat earlier this year, and a key breeding area was destroyed in a fire north of Perth.

Urban development was also putting the species under stress through habitat loss, Ms Howard said.

"The species is now really under siege from the pressure in the coastal region," she said.

Carnaby's cockatoos migrate to the coast after breeding inland in the wheatbelt, Ms Howard said.

"What we need to do is identify key areas of habitat and protect it, or we are in danger of losing this species entirely," she said.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has to make a decision on whether to allow 162ha of bush habitat, in Jandakot, in Perth's south, to be cleared for commercial development.

A number of other wild birds were treated after the storm, including a pelican with a smashed wing that had to be euthanased.

Ms Faragher said birds of several species had been found dead across Perth, and other native wildlife was expected to have been affected.

The Perth Zoo's penguin plunge pool and the Australian wetlands section were damaged after overhead netting was destroyed by hail and a fallen tree.