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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mjh73" data-source="post: 1979564" data-attributes="member: 82187">Lorobolivia, I think you have a very polarised view of the situation, based on your local experiences.The OBP population has been intensively monitored for almost 30years. Many, many papers have been written about OBPs by respected scientists. I think it is inconceivable that collectors have somehow skewed the science to hide a black market OBP trade.Sean Dooley's article was written to raise attention to the current plight of the OBPs to the general public. It is true that one suspicion for the current apparent excelerated decline is that the changes in salt marsh vegetation structure and availability caused by climate change is effecting the birds physiological fitness to migrate and / or breed. I think stating this as fact is a little journalistic license. As I have said previously on this thread it is one potential factor in a whole sequence of known or suspected factors in the decline of the OBP. What is known beyond doubt is that the past 100 years have seen a massive reduction in the availability of suitable habitat for the birds as a result of human activity.I reiterate that keeping them in cages for the captive breeding program is with the intention of supporting the wild population until it can be returned to strength. Hopefully it is a temporary measure, but until we are able to understand and mitigate the problems in the wild we need to have the captive breeding population to fall back on or risk losing the species altogether.There is maybe some light at the end of the tunnel. This spring has seen strong rainfall across much of south east and parts of central Australia. The Murray River is flowing to South Australia and the Coorong again. This might be a shot in the arm for the habitats the OBP uses in the winter and we might hopefully see a bumper breeding year this or next season.</blockquote>

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