MANILA — Four years after its rescue, the Philippine cockatoo ‘Gold’ is now raising its new hatchling in Palawan, the Katala Foundation Inc. said Wednesday.

“Gold, after rescue in 2016 due to starvation, was able to successfully re-integrate into the wild and survive but what is the peak of this success is that after four years when it was released to the wild, was able to breed in the wild and had a successful hatchling this year,” chief operations officer Indira Dayang Lacerna-Widmann told ABS-CBN News.

This is good news for wildlife, as Philippine cockatoo’s population has "drastically declined" due to poaching for the pet trade, direct persecution (hunting) and most importantly loss of lowland forest as its habitat, said Lacerna-Widmann.

“The stronghold of the population is in Palawan of which it holds up to 90% of the global population. Global population is between 820-1,230 individuals left in the wild,” Lacerna-Widmann said.

“Having said that, [International Union for Conservation of Nature] and the Philippine Red List list it as critically endangered, the highest threat status before getting extinct in the wild,” she added.

The chief operations officer said that animal only breeds once a year and deforestation threatens its ability to populate.


“Cockatoos are cavity-nesters. They breed once a year and usually a clutch has 2-3 eggs. If weather is good, all might survive into successful fledglings but if not like enhanced or extreme dry season, in some cases breeding season fails due to lack of food,” the chief operations officer said.

“The trees used by cockatoos as nest trees are also equally threatened due to forest destruction e.g. kaingin, opening for settlements and agriculture or road development etc,” she added.

Keys to breeding

Lacerna-Widmann said nest protection or warden scheme remains a top factor in keeping the breeding process successful.

“For us, the nest protection or warden scheme is very important. This is where we hire ex-poachers and or kaingineros as wildlife rangers and they guard the nest trees 24/7 during its breeding season. Without [their] work, monitoring is impossible,” Lacerna-Widmann said.

She said that “community awareness” and the involvement of the local government also helped them raise Gold.

“You combine that with community awareness – meaning the community in Dumaran where it was released back to the wild, are vigilant and aware and report immediately to officials and to Katala personnel their sightings of cockatoos in their surroundings,” the chief operations officer said.

The chief operations officer added that some support from environmental offices helped them achieve their goal.

“There is a culture of cockatoo conservation among the local populace we are working with. LGUs of Dumaran and Narra do not only commit their actions but also commit their yearly appropriation to provide incentives for our wildlife wardens all year round instead of just getting seasonal income from poaching,” Lacerna-Widmann said.

“The government agencies who are working closely with us like the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and the (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) are all in support. When everyone works together, conservation of species and habitats are efficiently done,” she added.

The chief operations officer said that having Gold’s new hatchling is a big step for the species.

“It was already a relief to monitor that Gold successfully integrated with the wild population, but to be able to breed and contribute to its increasing population is a very good development. The supplementation to the natural population is a strategy that should be pursued to help increase remnant population and also for genetic diversity," she said.