Cape parrot feeding. Image by Rodnick Clifton BiljonThe most beautiful and celebrated parrots, the South African Cape parrots are becoming the endangered species like many other creatures. Their numbers are reducing so fast that scientists concern in future they’ll be just stories, once lived on this earthen world. The Cape Gold parrots enlightened many forests, specially “Yellowwood” forests are dying without proper food or proper reproduction. The human society is flourishing at alarming rate influencing normal habitat of many creatures along with birds. Scientists say, we need to save trees to save these parrots.
According to the explorers only 800 to 1000 parrots are left on that forest regions and the left ones are not healthy enough. The Cape parrots really struggle to survive.
National Geographic Emerging Explorer Steve Boyes is trying to pull the Cape parrot back from the brink of oblivion.
Boyes has a plan to restore the endemic yellowwood forests that once flourished across a wide swath of the southern tip of Africa, giving the parrots and other species that depend on the trees a chance to rebound. The plan involves many local communities that also stand to benefit from the return of the forests. It’s a strategy in which villagers, parrots, and yellowwood trees share a healthy ecosystem for the benefit of all. He is even organizing “naming” ceremony of baby parrots to attract children and teens that they try to save the parrots. Boyes himself learns village customs to cooperate villagers with him. He thinks, birds have great role on our ecosystem and we must not ignore them. Losing birds is truly an environmental concern we have to cope up with.
They want those forests back, especially as they watched them being torn apart during the years of apartheid by companies exploiting them and not sharing the proceeds with the local communities. The older people have stories and traditions about their forests. Some are concerned to save the parrots.
The Cape parrot is the only parrot endemic to South Africa. It is the most beautiful parrot in South Africa. It’s green and gold, the colors of South Africa’s national athletic teams. We need a national sports team to adopt the Cape parrot as its mascot, like rugby has the springbok. It’s as simple as that in conservation; if people care about it, good things will start happening. And finally we’ll be able to restore and save trees along with parrots.
Cape parrots have survived the destruction of their ecosystem even while many other species of the ancient yellowwood forests have disappeared. An ancient bird that has survived all that’s happened must be very special. Of course we must try to save them.
We must take it a plus point that beak and feather infections among the birds are coming down. If they get a bit care from all, the decreasing concern should be prevented. We have already lost many species, we don’t want to lose such colorful chirpy friends.
We need support, financial and otherwise, to reestablish the forests. Only NGO is doing this. The government is not doing this. We all need to join hands to restore our trees and parrots.
We have to bring these forests back, and with them the parrots and other animals that depend on the trees. It is really a dream is to see flocks of a thousand parrots or more flying over reestablished forests. So we must save trees to save parrots, most chirpy, colored friends ever!!