San Jose – Environmentalists in Costa Rica are fighting to ensure the survival of the Great Green Macaw, one of the biggest and most beautiful of the world’s parrot species whose numbers have dwindled alarmingly.
Habitat destruction and poaching have resulted in a drastic decline in the populations of that species and its cousin, the vibrantly colored Scarlet Macaw, and made it increasingly difficult to see the birds in Costa Rica’s forests.
But the situation is even more critical for the Great Green Macaw, according to the Environment Ministry, which estimates that in Costa Rica there are only between 25 and 30 mating pairs at reproductive age in the wild.
Some 800 Scarlet Macaws inhabit Costa Rica’s Pacific region, but they are limited to two areas, a reserve in the central zone and another in the southern Osa Peninsula.
With the aim of halting their possible disappearance, a private macaw reserve known as “El Manantial” was established several years ago to receive birds that had been in captivity, assist with their reproduction and then later release new generations into the wild.
“El Manantial” is located in the central Pacific town of Aranjuez, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of the capital, San Jose.
Rodolfo Orosco, who runs the sanctuary, told EFE that the main goal is to release the macaws into the wild as a means of halting the extinction process.
Although small groups of tourists are allowed to visit the 6.3-hectare (15-acre) sanctuary, located just miles from the coast, Orosco stressed that “this is not a zoo, but rather a scientific and environmental education project where the macaws are trained to live in the wild and people are trained to care for” these birds.
“El Manantial” receives macaws confiscated by authorities and cares for and attends to the birds, including many that suffered serious injuries or were victims of abuse while kept as pets at people’s homes.
Those injured macaws, said Environment Ministry official Jorge Hernandez, cannot be returned to the wild and instead are kept in special cages with the aim of promoting successful mating.
This is not easy, according to Hernandez, because the macaws are monogamous birds that choose a partner and maintain the same one for life. If that partner dies, it is very rare for them to seek out another one, he said.
Additionally, although they can live as long as 90 years, macaws reach sexual maturity at around seven or eight and reproduce just once a year, typically bearing one or two chicks each time.
About 20 Great Green Macaws, which are also known as Buffon’s Macaw and measure up to 79 centimeters (31 inches) in length, are being cared for at “El Manantial.” There also are some 80 Scarlet Macaws, which are the largest – measuring as long as 84 centimeters – and most colorful members of the parrot family.
When the chicks are born, whether through natural or assisted incubation, the workers at the refuge “train” them for life in the wild, helping them with the basic skills of finding food, flying and recognizing predators.
“During the months they’re here the macaws are free and normally cover a diameter of some 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) until they reach the mangrove swamps of the Pacific. They come back because there’s plenty of food here like the tropical almond tree, the Tonka bean tree, corn, peanuts and vegetables,” Orosco said.
The Great Green Macaws are released into their habitat, in the region along Costa Rica’s northern border with Nicaragua, while the Scarlet Macaws are returned to their natural areas along the Pacific coast.
In addition to the macaws, “El Manantial” also serves as refuge for other animals such as toucans, Brazilian blue macaws and even monkeys, which spy on visitors from treetops and make their walks along the sanctuary’s paths an incomparable natural experience.
Although the refuge provides a semblance of hope in the battle to prevent the extinction of exotic species, those responsible for the sanctuary insist that the macaw’s survival depends almost entirely on habitat conservation and that without improved nationwide environmental education their efforts will be in vain.
