/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/TMUJLKZJWZFBFFOHYKZSPR4724.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "After their extinction 100 years ago, they seek to found a new population of red macaws in the Iberá National Park")
Five red macaws were released in the last hours in the Esteros del Iberá and there are 15 specimens with which the authorities are trying to found a new wild population after its extinction 100 years ago.
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As reported by the foundation Rewilding Argentina In a statement, these are five juvenile specimens that “form the second nucleus for the liberation of the species in Corrientes, after more than a hundred years of extinction in the province, and half a century in all of Argentina.”
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Even if in our country the red macaw became extinct due to illegal hunting, in the world it is considered as a kind of “minor concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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The project, with the support of the government of Corrientes and National Parks, seeks to recover the native fauna of the Esteros del Iberá, a protected area of wetlands that covers 12,000 square kilometers in the northeast of the country.
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The organization opened the doors of a cage in a field called Yerbalito, near the towns of Loreto and Villa Olivari in Corrientes, north of the Iberá National Park.
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Before your release the animals were quarantined at the Aguará Wildlife Conservation Center, In the vicinity of the Corrientes locality of Paso de la Patria, where the groups of individuals are consolidated, the necessary health checks are carried out to rule out diseases that may be incorporated into the wild environment after their release and they are trained.
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That preparation consists of “Teach them to land, to manage in their natural environment, actively motivate them to exercise continuous flight, and then reach greater distances”, explained the coordinator of the Red Macaw Reintroduction Project of the Argentine Rewilding Foundation, Marianela Masat.
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“Too they are taught to recognize the native fruits and to fly in high strata, occupying trees emerging from the landscape ”, indicated the specialist.
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“When opening the doors of the enclosure, we call them with a whistle to fly to the first feeding station ”, explained the coordinator of the plan and assured that“ as time progresses, the separation between the feeding stations increases so that they progressively travel longer distances ”.
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Also, to the birds a small radio transmitter is incorporated that allows monitoring of each individual in the field, to verify their adaptation.
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Last May, the laying of an egg by a couple of macaws released in a portal to access the estuaries called Cambyretá was recorded, while in 2019 the first three eggs of a farm that represented the first union that began to use and defend a nest box installed by the foundation.
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They were the first reproductive events registered in the project and although they did not prosper, it was determined that they were “viable”, so, according to what Rewilding Argentina indicated, it is expected that next season there will be chicks born in the wild.
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