A sad roadside scene has highlighted the “carnage” that continues to occur along stretches of a busy Aussie highway, despite repeated pleas from frustrated locals and wildlife rescuers.
The heartbreaking image of a Carnaby’s cockatoo’s lifeless body on the bitumen near an exit on the Tonkin Highway just north of Ellenbrook, a suburb about 30 minutes from Perth, was captured on Tuesday morning.
Tragically, the endangered animal’s death is not a one-off, with “starving” birds frequently risking their lives to feast on banksias, “sporadically” planted on median strips and roadsides in the area.
“It’s not uncommon,” Dean Arthurell, the founder of Carnaby’s Crusaders, told Yahoo News on Thursday. “There’s been three in the last three days.”
Arthurell first brought attention to the issue in May when he released a video of several black Carnaby’s cockatoos feasting on banksia cones — a significant food source for the species — in a fenced refuge stretching over 1km in the middle of the four-lane highway.
The section in question sits in a 100km/h zone, baiting the birds to “run the gauntlet” and dodge cars and large trucks in order to reach the sustenance, he told Yahoo at the time.
Dean Arthurell told Yahoo News he has received reports of three black Carnaby’s cockatoo deaths in the area this week alone. Source: Carnaby’s Crusaders
In light of the footage, Main Roads WA announced it would prune back the shrubs, which were first planted in 2020 after much of the birds’ primary food source, the Gnangara pine plantation, was logged. Authorities said this would be followed by their “total removal”.
However, despite the trim, at least a dozen of the endangered birds have been killed in and around Ellenbrook in the months since, Arthurell claims, warning that if the “clueless” landscaping isn’t sorted out soon, additional deaths will follow.
“[There will be] more carnage,” he said. “The birds are migrating off the Swan Coastal Plain, back to breeding areas. We know that there are very large numbers in and around Ellenbrook, so we just expect more deaths until something is really done.
“There needs to be an alternative food source that doesn’t provide them the necessary risk to run the gauntlet to feed themselves. So there needs to be something planted somewhere nearby that is safe to forage for these birds.”
Arthurell first called attention to the issue in May when he released footage of several black Carnaby’s cockatoos feasting on banksia cones planted along a 1km stretch of the four-lane highway. Source: Carnaby’s Crusaders
Road authorities insist banksias will be removed from highway
Speaking to Yahoo, a spokesperson for Main Roads WA confirmed “full removal” of the dwarf banksias along the Tonkin Highway in Ellenbrook is “scheduled to occur by the end of the year, and prior to any regrowth of the bird-attracting flowers”.
“Main Roads removed the flowers at the start of June, 2025 and have continued to monitor the situation,” they added. “The pruned branches were donated to Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre to support their critical rehabilitation work.”
Previously, road authorities said the presence of the trees “had not been an issue” until recently. “This is likely due to the plants not being old enough to flower as prolifically as they are now, as well as the lack of food availability in the local area for black cockatoos (especially given the last two very dry years we have experienced),” a spokesperson told Yahoo in May.
Locals urged to report black cockatoo deaths to authorities
Arthurell said the ongoing saga has prompted locals to take matters into their own hands, with many residents looking to plant “cockatoo food trees” such as macadamias, almonds or pecans, on their own properties. Others have installed specialised bird boxes.
“It’s quite simply, been left up to the WA public to champion the recovery and conservation of black cockatoos. And the WA public are very invested,” Arthurell said.
While it’s understood Main Roads WA works with a range of organisations such as the Perth Zoo, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and Murdoch University to monitor where bird strikes occur, and see if the road conditions may have contributed, Arthurell told Yahoo he believes many Carnaby’s cockatoo deaths are still not being reported.
He has encouraged drivers who witness an injured or deceased bird on the Tonkin Highway to report it to DBCA to help with data collection.
The state’s southwest is home to three threatened black cockatoo species: the endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo, the critically endangered Baudin’s cockatoo and the Forest red-tailed black cockatoo, which is listed as vulnerable. Conservationists have warned that if declining numbers are not turned around, all three could be extinct within 20 years.
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