Grey headed Parrot, Liwonde National Park. © Bentley Palmer.

In Liwonde National Park (LNP), Malawi the Brown and Grey headed Parrots use cavities in Baobab trees for roosting and breeding. Baobab trees in the park have in recent years been severe damaged by elephants. The impact this behaviour may have on the stated parrots is of conservation concern. Therefore this project aims to investigate how Baobab trees are distributed in the park and estimate their numbers/densities.

The project will obtain information on whether all baobab trees in the park are affected or it is just those that are close to the main river channel. The project will also obtain estimated proportions of damaged trees and those used by parrots. As translocation of elephants from the park is a lengthy and expensive option, the project will investigate possible short term baobab tree protection methods that have worked in other areas in Africa. The role of elephants as ecosystem engineers has been well discussed. Parrots are among the most threatened species in the world due to their often high ecological specialisation.

This project aims to quantify the impact that elephants are having on the Baobab tree and how this impact will affect roosting and breeding site availability for the Brown and Grey headed parrots. The acquired information will also be used to forecast the impact of reduced cavity availability to other secondary cavity users in the park.