DNA uncovers 1 of the world's rarest birds

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/11/23/dna_uncovers_1_of_the_worlds_rarest_birds.html

Summary – This article is about how Australian scientists teamed up with DNA experts and discovered that a bird on the Western Coast of Australia is critically endangered. The DNA experts used 160 year old DNA from museum specimens to discover that the Western Ground Parrot is in fact, a completely different species than its relative, the Eastern Ground Parrot. This causes major issues for the conservation of the Western Ground Parrot, about 110 of which still exist in the wild. Also, most of these birds live in a single national park. The article says that a wildfire or the growth of introduced predators could possibly wipe out the whole Western Ground Parrot population. This is what the article was about.

Opinion – I think this is actually pretty useful. It’s nice that these DNA experts decided to do the tests and discovered that the Western Ground Parrot is endangered. Otherwise, a whole species could have been extinct! I do however think it is sad that they are this close to extinction when about 100 years ago they were plentiful. The article doesn’t state the reason as to why they are endangered, but I can’t help but think it is because of human activities. It’s very sad, and it could be happening in other places in the world! I think that humans need to step up and realize that we are sharing this planet with other plants and animals and that we need to create a world in which we can both comfortably live.