THE federal government will provide a $525,000 rescue package to help rebuild numbers of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.
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The package, announced on Friday, will be used to fight the deadly beak and feather disease that has ravaged the species' wild breeding population.
Orange-bellied parrots breed only in Tasmania's South-West.
Just 64 parrots left the breeding grounds this autumn for the Victorian coastal wintering grounds.
Federal environment minister Greg Hunt said the funding had been provided on advice from the threatened species commissioner Gregory Andrews.
``These funds will boost the Tasmanian government's captive breeding and recovery programme for the orange-bellied parrot and make sure we keep the parrot's insurance population safe, as well as look after the wild population,'' he said.
``Only about 50 to 100 birds are believed to survive in the wild, earning the orange-bellied parrot the unwanted status of the world's most endangered parrot species as well as a place on our national threatened species list.''
Tasmanian environment minister Matthew Groom said the funding would add to the $800,000 provided by the Tasmanian government over three years to aid the species' recovery.
``Captive-bred birds released into the wild have already produced fledglings, in a major milestone for the species,'' he said.
``This allocation will deliver a boost for practical actions to combat beak and feather disease as well as breeding and release actions like remote cameras at breeding and feeding sites and new customised nest boxes that give the parrot a better chance against predators.''
The Tasmanian government has sent a representative to a workshop of orange-bellied parrot experts being held at Melbourne Zoo on Friday.