Having only attended one of the four Barrow’s Lectures at
the Cincinnati Zoo, I can say that my view on conservation efforts around the
world has drastically grown. As mentioned
a few weeks ago, I attended Amy Dickman’s lecture on the Human-Carnivore
conflict in Tanzania. In the
conservation world, Amy Dickman is a common name and her efforts have made a
large positive impact on the lion population.
I look forward to the other lectures in the Barrow series and learning
more on these issues.
Other than Amy’s efforts, many conservation efforts occur
around the world. Basically, if there is
an endangered animal, then there is an effort toward its conservation. These efforts can include conserving the
habitat through natural park reservations, educating the locals on the animal
and it’s habitat, and the like.
After researching conservation around the world, the first
thing that came to mind was Bernadette Plair. Bernadette is a researcher as the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and she works with CREW, The Center for
Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife. I had the pleasure to meet
with Bernadette and hear her story about the Blue and Gold Macaws, Ara ararauna, and their reintroduction
into her homeland of Trinidad (LaFay, 2004). Bernadette grew up with these
birds in the 1950’s. She left Trinidad for her studies but never forgot the
macaws. In 1993, Bernadette and the zoo began the very successful
reintroduction project by first organizing the Trinidad-based Centre for the
Rescue of Endangered Species of Trinidad and Tobago (CRESTT) (Lafay, 2004).
Reintroduction efforts began with pin pointing the reason for eradication. The
macaws completely disappeared from Trinidad due to poaching, industrial rice
farming, and the pet trade in the 1960’s (CZBG, 2011). Also, the efforts needed
to begin with wild caught birds(those confiscated from illegal traders) and
teaching those captively born how to survive in the wild. These captive born
chicks were raised in Trinidad under the Wildlife Division by researchers and
other bird surrogates. However, it was nearly four years before their breeding
efforts were successful. The first successful group of blue and gold macaws
were reintroduced in December 1999 (LaFay, 2004). This group consisted of nine
macaws which formed fours breeding groups and produced twelve chicks within two
nesting periods (LaFay, 2004). Finally, the natives needed to be educated on
these birds and the pet trade. The success continues today and will continue
due to the passionate efforts of Bernadette and her researchers. Many years
were put into this effort with trial and error. By teaching the macaws how to
live in the wild and the natives how to keep this species in Trinidad, the
researchers established a safe environment for the Blue and Gold Macaw to
thrive.
References:
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (2011) Blue and Gold Macaws.
