On an Indonesian island, an ancient ritual evolves to protect an endangered cockatoo

A new study has found that the Huaulu Indigenous community on Indonesia’s Seram Island is adapting a centuries-old coming-of-age ritual to help protect the endangered salmon-crested cockatoo.Researchers say that rather than hunting the birds for their feathers, used in the Cidaku ceremony, the Huaulu have agreed to use naturally shed feathers, collected from rehabilitation centers, rescue facilities and zoos.The findings suggest that conservation efforts may be more effective when they work with Indigenous cultural traditions and local knowledge rather than relying solely on imposing restrictions from outside.However, an independent expert warns that this still leaves the much larger threats to the species — wildlife trafficking and habitat loss — unaddressed, and that the approach is a bespoke solution that won’t work with other threatened species. An Indigenous community on Indonesia’s Seram Island is preserving a centuries-old coming-of-age ritual while helping protect the endangered salmon-crested cockatoo, a new study has found. The study, published in July in the Journal of Ethnobiology, documents how the Huaulu people adapted the sacred Cidaku initiation ceremony in collaboration with conservationists and government authorities. The ritual marks young men’s transition to adulthood and traditionally involved wearing the distinctive crest feathers of the salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis), a bird found nowhere else on Earth. The Huaulu, one of Seram’s oldest Indigenous communities, regard Seram’s forests as a living realm inhabited by powerful spirits, shaping their approach to conservation. “The use of cockatoo feathers is specifically embedded within this cultural system and is very different from hunting birds for commercial purposes,” study lead author Dwi Agustina, a researcher at Indonesia’s Gadjah Mada University and program coordinator at the Indonesia’s Cockatoo Conservation Association (KKI), told Mongabay in an email. An endangered salmon-crested cockatoo on Seram Island, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Balázs Tisza/Wildlife Messengers. The Cidaku ritual once had ties to head-taking, but after colonial authorities and Christian missionaries suppressed the practice in the early 20th century, the Huaulu adapted the ceremony around hunting wild animals. The salmon-crested cockatoo became one traditional target, with its crest feathers used in the ceremonial puheliam headdress: the white feathers as a symbol of sacred life, peace and community, and the peach-tinged feathers signifying great strength and courage. Over the decades, however, the species has become endangered, largely due to poaching for the wildlife trade and habitat loss. That has put the Cidaku tradition at odds with Indonesian conservation law, which prohibits capturing or killing the species, including for ceremonial use. “The traditional hunting by the Huaulu community had a comparatively lower but not neglecting impact I would say,” study co-author George Olah, a conservation ecologist at Australian National University, told Mongabay in the email. He cited evidence from Manusela National Park, a protected area on Seram Island that overlaps with the Huaulu community’s forest territory, showing that salmon-crested cockatoo populations had fallen by more than half in some parts of the park. Those findings, in a 2021 study, also documented dozens of confiscated birds across Maluku province, the clutch of islands that includes Seram, and recommended elevating the species’ conservation status from vulnerable to the higher-risk category of endangered. In addition, the new study also found salmon-crested cockatoo feathers being offered for sale internationally via online marketplace eBay in 2024, underscoring the commercial pressures facing the endangered species. Huaulu community members distinguished their own use of feathers from wildlife trafficking and said they viewed external trade as a major driver of the bird’s decline. A scene from the Cidaku ritual in the Huaulu village on Seram Island, Indonesia, where participants wear headdresses with the crest feathers of the salmon-crested cockatoo. Image courtesy of KKI. Researchers first conducted fieldwork with the Huaulu community in northern Seram from March to November 2019. Following the COVID-19 disruption, they resumed their fieldwork from July 2024 to May 2025. The study area, near Mount Binaya and Manusela National Park, is among the salmon-crested cockatoo’s last remaining strongholds, following the species’ disappearance from nearby smaller islands of Haruku, Saparua and Nusa Laut. Researchers interviewed 10 community members and surveyed 43 households, and conducted reviews of published research and evidence of feather trading. Discussions with Huaulu elders, traditional hunters and conservation authorities ultimately led to a proposal to not kill the birds for their feathers and instead gather the feathers that the cockatoos naturally shed. The study found that community members saw the feathers’ authenticity and sacred symbolism, and not the hunt itself, as central to the ritual’s meaning. While some elders initially worried the change could weaken the association with courage, younger men welcomed the approach, saying declining wild cockatoo numbers had made feathers increasingly difficult to obtain and risked delaying initiation ceremonies. These findings reinforced the conservation strategy of using shed feathers from rehabilitation centers, rescue facilities and zoos, enabling the Cidaku ritual to continue without hunting wild birds. “The important contribution of the agreement is that transitioning to a feather bank directly removes the remaining local hunting pressure on the wild cockatoo population,” Olah said. “In addition, the new conservation agreement actively revitalizes ancient forest taboos and formalizes community enforced customary laws against profiting from wildlife.” Puheliam, traditional feather headdresses, are preserved in a dry box inside the Baileo, the communal house, for future ceremonies and to reduce demand for new cockatoo feathers. Image courtesy of KKI. Jihad, national project coordinator at Burung Indonesia, the local affiliate of conservation NGO BirdLife International, said the new study’s findings offered a broader model for conservation strategy by linking species protection with local communities, cultural practices, and sustainable resource management. He said replacing wild-hunted feathers could reduce one source of pressure from the Cidaku ceremony, but warned it wouldn’t address the major threats to the cockatoo, particularly wildlife trafficking and habitat loss. “All three issues need to be addressed simultaneously,” Jihad, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Mongabay in a text message. He added the approach should not be directly replicated for other threatened species without considering their specific ecological, community, and cultural contexts. Jihad noted that measuring the impact of the change would require monitoring wild populations, Cidaku ceremonies, the origin of feathers used in rituals, and the condition of cockatoo habitat. The study’s authors say emphasizing the feathers’ cultural importance could increase their commercial appeal, underscoring the need for monitoring and stronger customary bans on trading cockatoos and their feathers. “The Huaulu community has extensive customary knowledge and authority within its ancestral forest,” Dwi said. “By strengthening their role as custodians of the forest and reinforcing their customary restrictions against commercial exploitation, the community could also become an important first line of defense against external wildlife traders and poachers. “We believe this is a more culturally appropriate and potentially more sustainable conservation approach than simply imposing an external ban,” she added. Basten Gokkon is a senior staff writer for Indonesia at Mongabay. See related story: Maluku farmer turns guardian of eastern Indonesia’s threatened parrots Citations: Agustina, D., Nandika, D., Eprilurahman, R., Priyono, D. S., & Olah, G. (2026). Sacred rituals and endangered birds: a biocultural approach to cockatoo conservation on Seram Island, Indonesia. Journal of Ethnobiology. doi:10.1177/02780771261463246 Nandika, D., Agustina, D., Heinsohn, R., & Olah, G. (2021). Wildlife trade influencing natural parrot populations on a biodiverse Indonesian island. Diversity, 13(10), 483. doi:10.3390/d13100483 Credits Topics