Parrots Pushed to the Brink of Extinction

Video by National Geographic
Published 17 December, 2012
Link: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/ng-on-assignment/parrots-deadly-virus-ngoa/

Deadly Virus Pushes Parrots to Brink of Extinction

Summary:
The Eastern Cape of South Africa is home of the Cape Parrots. The main food source of these birds is the fruit produced from the Yellow Wood Tree. However, deforestation has lead to a major decrease in this tree. The parrots have been forced to eat alternate food sources, but these alternate food sources make the parrots more susceptible to the Psittancine Beak and Feather Disease. This disease has affected and killed many of the parrots, and the population has decreased so much that there are only around 1000 Cape Parrots left in the wild. Dr. Steve Boyes has helped nurse sick Cape Parrots back to health in an effort to prevent the extinction of the species. However, if deforestation does not stop, then the extinction of this species could actually occur.

Relevance:
In concept 15.3, we learned about extinction, when a species is permanently lost. Some extinction, such as these parrots, is caused by human interference. This also relates to the Bottleneck Effect in concept 14.4. Although deforestation is not a natural disaster, it has the same results of the Bottleneck Effect. The population of the Cape Parrot has been dramatically reduced. Because the parrots are not able to resist disease and adapt to the environmental challenges, there must be little variation in their gene pool. This type of result of the Bottleneck Effect is also found in cheetahs. It is possible that one of the parrots could one day have a mutation that makes it resistant to the beak and feather disease, and through natural selection that trait could be passed on and end up saving the species from extinction.