The scarlet macaw (Ara macao cyanoptera) is a bird with colorful scarlet, blue, and yellow plumage that lives in Mexico and Central America. They Scarlet Macaw is an endangered species, according to officials from the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) of Mexico.
It differs from its South American relative (Ara macao macao) by the color configuration of its wings. Their diet is based on seeds, fruits, new leaf stems, and bromeliads.
Their current population is restricted to the Lacandon Jungle, Chiapas. However, they were distributed in other Mexican states such as Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Campeche.
This restriction occurred mainly due to the accelerated destruction of their habitat, with the devastation of the evergreen tropical forest, the disturbance of their housing area, as well as the predation of their nests by birds and mammals being the main threats that put the species at risk. macaw populations. They also suffer the consequences of poaching chicks for illegal sale on the black market.
It is currently considered by the Mexican Government as a species in danger of extinction, while, since 2008, the General Wildlife Law establishes that no specimen of bird that belongs to the family of psittacidae (psittacidae), whose natural distribution is within the national territory, may be subject to extractive use for subsistence or commercial purposes.
Because it is a species vulnerable to extinction, the foreign sale of the scarlet macaw is prohibited and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as well as on the Red List. of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Different strategies are being carried out in the country to stop the extinction of the species, including operations to combat illegal trafficking and to protect the specimen in distribution areas.
Currently, there are approximately 1,000 specimens left in the wild, so Diego Noriega, biologist, and director of the Scarlet Macaw Protection, Conservation, and Reintegration Program, does everything possible to save them from extinction.
According to reports from National Geographic, Noriega is in charge of caring for newborn babies rescued from poachers with the aim that they develop properly and can be released into the wild once they are older.
Noriega assured that his objective is not to confront the hunters, since they are usually armed. He described the situation as “a competition” to see who gets to the nests first.
TYT Newsroom
