The Amazon Rescue Center (CREA) has been working hard in Iquitos, Peru, in the rescue and rehabilitation of different species of birds.
Author: Cristian Vélez, CREA’s Education and Ecotourism Coordinator.
According to the story “El Sueño de San Martin” by the writer Abraham Baldelomar, when the liberator Jose de San Martin disembarked in the bay of Paracas, on the Peruvian coast, tired by the journey, he sat down to sleep at the foot of a palm tree and dreamed of a flock of beautiful birds with red wings and white body, the same ones that served as inspiration for the colors of the Peruvian flag. They were the parihuanas, a high Andean bird that also inhabits the Peruvian coasts.
Centuries after San Martin’s dream, Peruvian birds are still a source of inspiration and admiration. Such is the case that on May 13 the results of the Global Big Day (GBD), the most important birding competition in the world, were announced. After four consecutive years in second place, Peru finally took first place with 1,351 records of species sighted, followed by Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia.
Birds have always been captivating for their beauty and majesty, however, the colorfulness of their feathers and the striking nature of their songs seem to be their curse, as these characteristics make them highly sought after to be traded illegally. Peru is one of the countries with the greatest diversity of birds worldwide with about 1,800 species, many of them endemic to the Amazon region. Unfortunately, this diversity has made it become one of the main suppliers of birds in the national and international illegal market, with thousands of birds are snatched each year from their habitat in the Amazon to cross half the world and end up in a collection in countries like Holland, Belgium, Austria, Spain or France in Europe and China, Japan, Singapore, among others, in Asia.
Many markets in Amazonian cities have become a critical point for wildlife trafficking. There, red macaws (Ara macao), blue macaws (Ara ararauna), Red-billed Toucans (Ramphastos tucanus), and White-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus) – the most trafficked species in the last 20 years – among others, are offered for use as pets or in shamanic rituals.
Faced with this alarming situation, the Amazon Rescue Center (CREA), located about 30 km from the Belen market (Iquitos, Peru), has been working hard in the rescue and rehabilitation of different species of birds, all of them rescued from illegal trafficking. Many of them arrive in deplorable situations, with cut feathers and broken wings, even the wing of a scarlet macaw had to be amputated in order to save his life. After the corresponding veterinary care, these birds are now living in a state of semi-freedom, in an 11-hectare area of natural forest, where they have the opportunity to enjoy the trees, wild fruits and exercise their wings so that they can take flight again.
Blue Macaw (Ara ararauna) at the Amazon Rescue Center (CREA). Photo: © Marcela Yalta / CREA.
Likewise, CREA team has been working hard to promote sustainable tourism and awareness campaigns that seek to reduce the purchase and possession of wild animals as pets. In the medium term, we seek to convert this space into a sanctuary for rescued birds, so that more specimens have the opportunity to fly freely and, as happened with José de San Martín, continue to be a source of inspiration and a synonym for freedom.
The wildlife rehabilitation work is being carried out thanks to the strategic collaboration between the Amazon Rescue Center Project, The Dallas World Aquarium Zoo, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), through the Bioamazon Project, and the Turkish Cooperation Agency (TIKA) Colombia, this synergy has made it possible to improve essential enclosures for the recovery and welfare of these specimens.
Watch the video on bird care: https://youtu.be/qIUrCU5SOLQ
Published in the Bioamazon Newsletter, issue n. 9, May-June 2021.
