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Saving endangered Scarlet
Macaws
| Today we got the chance to visit a new project
in Punta Leona. Actually the project has been going on
since 1991. Lapa is a group of volunteers who work to
educate the public about the scarlet
macaw. Lapa is the Spanish word for macaw. |
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Click On Photo To Enlarge
Macaws usually fly in pairs, and can be spotted by
their long tails. Pictures just don't do these beautiful
birds justice. |
Everyday around 5:00 AM, volunteers for
Lapa gather on a bridge in Punta Leona to begin their
daily count of migrating macaws.
Macaws migrate everyday from their nests to the forested
hills of Carara National Park. Punta Leona is a great
habitat for macaws, because it is right on the coast,
there are plenty of mangrove trees where macaws like to
roost, and there are plenty of big trees around to build
their nests. |
| The macaws
have a hard time in the wild, though. Poaching and habitat
destruction make survival very hard for the macaws. Macaws
are illegal to keep as pets, but there is still a large
underground macaw trade. Many poachers can get up to $300
per baby macaw.
This is as much money as many people in Costa Rica make
in one month. However as a result the macaw populations
are declining. |
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Click On Photo To Enlarge
Some serious birding. Frosty and Pika help Roy and
Guierllmo to look for macaws. We saw lots of macaws,
but also managed to observe over 30 species of shorebirds! |
Lapas has counted at least 150 pairs of
macaws in Punta Leona, however they only counted 17 fledglings
(baby macaws) this season. There should have been 70-100
fledglings. So, this means that the poaching continues.
There are laws in Costa Rica against poaching, but it
difficult to catch them. Lapas is working on trying to
change the poacher's minds about catching macaws,
but it is a difficult road. What suggestions do you have
about trying to change poachers' ways? If you lived in
Costa Rica, how could you help Lapas? |
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