Gang-gangs added to the threatened species list

Small and stocky, the Gang-gang Cockatoo is one of the more distinctive and charismatic members of Australia’s birdlife.

With its wispy crest and a call that sounds like a creaky gate, it is quite an unmistakable sight and sound to behold. Unfortunately hearing and seeing Gang-gangs is becoming increasingly rarer.

The 2019-20 bushfires affected 36 % of the Gang-gangs range, leading to an estimated population drop of 21%. Even before the 2019-20 fires, numbers of cold-climate loving Gang-gangs were declining due to heatwaves and climate change impacts.

The Gang-gang is now officially listed as ‘Endangered’ under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act & regulations.

The listing will see a recovery plan developed for the gang-gang, to supplement a national working group recently established to better understand the little-known bird.

So, what are we doing?

Murray Local Land Services is working with land managers to protect and enhance the Gang-gang Cockatoos habitat in the Upper Murray. The fires burnt out large areas of Gang-gang habitat, including tree hollows that the birds nest in. The gang-gang’s habitat is also negatively impacted by invasive weeds.

On-ground activities include revegetation and weed management at sites identified as important refuges for Gang-gangs and other threatened species recovering from the impact of the bushfires.

By protecting and re-establishing vegetation communities lost during the fires and protecting and enhancing refuges of unburnt vegetation communities, we aim to reverse the population decline of native species such as Gang-gang Cockatoos.