WWF-UK: Hyacinth macaw feature
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Hyacinth macaw feature
by Robin Clegg
Several species of macaw are already extinct and by the end of the 1980s the hyacinth macaw, the largest member of this family, was on the verge of suffering the same fate. The devastating impact of the global illegal trade in wildlife and deforestation of its natural habitat were just two of the factors adding to its rapid demise.
Around this time, a biology student called Neiva Guedes was working in the world's largest tropical wetland, an area of Brazil called the Pantanal, where the hyacinth macaw was once found in abundance. Struck by the beauty of the blue-feathered bird, Neiva decided to make it her life's work to increase the number of this species, which can live for up to 60 years, so it would still be around for future generations to see.
"What Neiva and the project team have done is show how, on a small scale, hyacinth macaw numbers can be slowly increased," says Eduardo Mongelli, WWF Regional Coordinator in the Pantanal, who works closely with Neiva and the project staff. "But more needs to be done in other parts of Brazil to safeguard the future of this magnificent species."
Neiva established the Hyacinth Macaw Project in 1990, and since 1999 WWF has supported its work, which is based on a 53,000 hectare farm and eco-resort in Caiman. So far, the project has helped to triple the macaw population in the area. But there is still a long way to go before numbers are great enough for its survival to be assured.
With fewer than 6,500 remaining in Brazilian forests – an area of habitat that is itself at risk of destruction – one of the long-term aims of the project is to conduct a hyacinth macaw census in other areas of the country. Because money is tight, the project's small team focuses on monitoring about 500 nesting sites and a few other key programmes to give this parrot a fighting chance of long-term survival.
An integral part of the work is the education of locals – particularly farmers – over their cutting down of the manduvi tree, in which these birds choose to nest. Farmers are felling these trees to make more room for their cattle to graze. They set fire to the land to remove all the trees and bushes so that when the vegetation begins to grow back their livestock can move onto it. Such slash and burn practice kills not only the manduvi tree but all wildlife that cannot escape the flames. Sadly, the alarming rate at which this is happening is one of the contributing factors to the decline of the hyacinth macaw. While Neiva now has the support of a number of local landowners and farmers, she still faces an uphill struggle to convince others to change their ways.
By the early 1990s, about 10,000 hyacinth macaws had been captured and were being sold for up to £60,000 each. And because survival rates for chicks are low, trappers have often focused their attention on adults, which is extremely damaging to populations. The project is now working in conjunction with the Brazilian police to stamp out this sickening trade.
One of the most important areas of the project's work centres on attaching artificial nests to other varieties of tree in the hope that pairs of macaws, which mate for life, will use them to raise chicks. To monitor the macaw population in these and their natural nests, the project records how many eggs and chicks each one contains. They tag, weigh and measure the baby chicks and regularly check up on them. By the age of three months the chick will already have started to grow the distinctive fine plumage of blue feathers, but it takes a while longer before the bird will be strong enough to fly.
When two chicks hatch in one nest it is normal for the weaker one to be neglected by the parents and this often results in its death. Those lucky enough to be rescued are whisked away to an incubator back at the project base, where they are fed every two hours until healthy enough to be returned to a nest. Back in the nest, a chick is monitored to make sure it is not rejected.
"The purpose of my work, which is my life, is to preserve the hyacinth macaw in the wild," says Neiva. "We monitor more than 500 artificial and natural nests each month – checking for eggs and chicks and taking in the more fragile specimens for incubation.
"I don't care about having 100, 200, or 300 birds in captivity, 50 or 100 years from now. I care about a sustainable population of hyacinth macaws flying free in Brazil."
Around this time, a biology student called Neiva Guedes was working in the world's largest tropical wetland, an area of Brazil called the Pantanal, where the hyacinth macaw was once found in abundance. Struck by the beauty of the blue-feathered bird, Neiva decided to make it her life's work to increase the number of this species, which can live for up to 60 years, so it would still be around for future generations to see.
"What Neiva and the project team have done is show how, on a small scale, hyacinth macaw numbers can be slowly increased," says Eduardo Mongelli, WWF Regional Coordinator in the Pantanal, who works closely with Neiva and the project staff. "But more needs to be done in other parts of Brazil to safeguard the future of this magnificent species."
Neiva established the Hyacinth Macaw Project in 1990, and since 1999 WWF has supported its work, which is based on a 53,000 hectare farm and eco-resort in Caiman. So far, the project has helped to triple the macaw population in the area. But there is still a long way to go before numbers are great enough for its survival to be assured.
With fewer than 6,500 remaining in Brazilian forests – an area of habitat that is itself at risk of destruction – one of the long-term aims of the project is to conduct a hyacinth macaw census in other areas of the country. Because money is tight, the project's small team focuses on monitoring about 500 nesting sites and a few other key programmes to give this parrot a fighting chance of long-term survival.
An integral part of the work is the education of locals – particularly farmers – over their cutting down of the manduvi tree, in which these birds choose to nest. Farmers are felling these trees to make more room for their cattle to graze. They set fire to the land to remove all the trees and bushes so that when the vegetation begins to grow back their livestock can move onto it. Such slash and burn practice kills not only the manduvi tree but all wildlife that cannot escape the flames. Sadly, the alarming rate at which this is happening is one of the contributing factors to the decline of the hyacinth macaw. While Neiva now has the support of a number of local landowners and farmers, she still faces an uphill struggle to convince others to change their ways.
By the early 1990s, about 10,000 hyacinth macaws had been captured and were being sold for up to £60,000 each. And because survival rates for chicks are low, trappers have often focused their attention on adults, which is extremely damaging to populations. The project is now working in conjunction with the Brazilian police to stamp out this sickening trade.
One of the most important areas of the project's work centres on attaching artificial nests to other varieties of tree in the hope that pairs of macaws, which mate for life, will use them to raise chicks. To monitor the macaw population in these and their natural nests, the project records how many eggs and chicks each one contains. They tag, weigh and measure the baby chicks and regularly check up on them. By the age of three months the chick will already have started to grow the distinctive fine plumage of blue feathers, but it takes a while longer before the bird will be strong enough to fly.
When two chicks hatch in one nest it is normal for the weaker one to be neglected by the parents and this often results in its death. Those lucky enough to be rescued are whisked away to an incubator back at the project base, where they are fed every two hours until healthy enough to be returned to a nest. Back in the nest, a chick is monitored to make sure it is not rejected.
"The purpose of my work, which is my life, is to preserve the hyacinth macaw in the wild," says Neiva. "We monitor more than 500 artificial and natural nests each month – checking for eggs and chicks and taking in the more fragile specimens for incubation.
"I don't care about having 100, 200, or 300 birds in captivity, 50 or 100 years from now. I care about a sustainable population of hyacinth macaws flying free in Brazil."