ARA MACAO CYANOPTERA
Reserva Las Guacamayas. Buffer zone of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve.
October 2021
PUBLICATION(pending)
Proposal to be confirmed
Preliminary analysis
Planning & Design
Realization
Analysis and interpretation of the results
Publication of the results
Captive breeding, as well as the hand-rearing of surplus chicks from the nests of wild specimens, has allowed this community to reintroduce a significant number of specimens of this endangered subspecies to the Selva Lancandona. This has increased the number of existing specimens and improved the status of the population in general.
This type of initiatives born in the territory itself are particularly valuable and require the support of entities such as the Psittacus Foundation.
This project aims to facilitate and improve the results of the captive breeding programme, as well as the hand-rearing programme of the chicks taken from the nests.
- Increase in the number of specimens obtained through the captive breeding programme.
- Improvement in the viability of the chicks extracted from the nests.
- Improvement in the percentage of chicks finally returned to the wild.
At the request of the Psittacus Foundation and financed by itself, Psittacus Catalonia sends free of charge to the Reserva las Guacamayas, complete food for the maintenance and breeding seasons of the adult specimens of the centre, as well as food for the hand-rearing of the chicks born in the centre and those that have been pulled from the nests. The practice of pulling and hand-rearing the third chick from each nest (if there is a third) makes its survival and future return to the environment possible. Almost all third chicks die in the nests. In addition, also at the request of the Psittacus Foundation, the specialised staff of Psittacus Catalonia assists the caretakers of the Reserva las Guacamayas in the correct application of the food provided.
In 2022, attacks by African bees on macaw nests resulted in the death of most of the chicks in the monitored nests. We will have to wait until the 2023 breeding season to be able to assess the impact of the project.
