The last bid attempts to save the western ground parrot
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 12:56 
WA's most endangered species, the western ground parrot (Alan Danks)With only 140 birds left in the wild at Cape Arid National Park, the western ground parrot is critically endangered. An Esperance documentary maker aims to raise awareness of the bird before it's too late.
The western ground parrot used to be widespread in coastal areas in Western Australia, from north of Perth to Israelite Bay, but it has experienced radical decline.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) is attempting to boost western ground parrot numbers by monitoring the notoriously shy bird by its call and surveying bird numbers.
The bird can usually be heard an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset.
Jennene Riggs is a documentary film maker and volunteered for the western ground parrot count last week at Cape Arid.
"They have had a tough time with feral cats and foxes," Jennene Riggs told Kirstyn March on ABC Goldfields-Esperance.
"They are a ground parrot so they are particularly vulnerable to feral animal predation."
Historical land clearing has led to a loss of habitat for the birds and bushfires expose them even more to predators.
"As far as we can tell there are only 140 individuals, which is not many at all.
"There is also a very small captive population of 7 animals residing at the Perth Zoo, where they are trying to get a captive breeding program happening."
If that program is successful the idea is to reintroduce those captive-bred birds back into the wild.
Jennene said saving the western ground parrot involved a three-pronged approach: monitoring the bird, eradicating feral predators and coming up with a fire management plan to minimise damage to habitats.
In addition Jennene, who with her husband has been making wildlife documentaries for 15 years, aims to make a movie about the attempts to save the parrot.
Jennene made a movie about conservation on the South Coast called Remote and Rugged last year.
"The film focussed on some of the amazing conservation projects that are happening along the South Coast of WA.
"It was during the course of making that film that I became aware of the work that the DPaW were doing with the western ground parrot and other endangered animals.
"After the success of that, DPaW approached me to make a full hour-long documentary on the western ground parrot recovery program."
Jennene is trying to secure funding for the documentary, which will be called Secrets at Sunrise.
"I think it will be really exciting and awe-inspiring just to show the dedication of these scientists and volunteers who devote their lives to helping this ground parrot to recover numbers."