Indigenous Indonesians have come to a solution to help conserve an endangered cockatoo species important for cultural practices. The salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis) is considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to habitat loss and hunting and trapping the birds. They are only found on Selam Island in Indonesia and a few smaller surrounding islands. The Huaulu people of Seram Island have traditionally hunted the charismatic birds for their feathers, which are important for initiation ceremonies that define adulthood. But the Huaulu people are now working with government authorities and conservation researchers to instead harvest moulted feathers from salmon-crested cockatoos held in wildlife rehabilitation centers. The solution came about after participatory focus group discussions with the Huaulu community. “We found that for the contemporary Huaulu, the spiritual potency of the Cidaku ritual relies less on the violence of the hunt and more on the inherent spiritual integrity of the species itself,” said George Olah, a scientist from the Australian National University, in a press release.
