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An Indigenous community in Indonesia has found a way to protect one of the world’s rarest cockatoos without abandoning a centuries-old sacred tradition, according to new research led by The Australian National University (ANU), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Perkumpulan Konservasi Kakatua Indonesia (KKI).
The study documents how the Huaulu people of Seram Island, Indonesia, worked with conservation researchers and government authorities to adapt their sacred Cidaku initiation ceremony.
Instead of hunting the endangered salmon-crested cockatoo, the ceremony now uses naturally moulted feathers collected from wildlife rescue centres.
Historically, young Huaulu men wore the bird’s distinctive crest feathers during the Cidaku ceremony, which marks the transition to adulthood.
