A flight for survival

In the jungles of northern Guatemala, Scarlet Macaws can still be heard in the most remote corners. The subspecies, Ara Macao Cyanoptera, is a bit larger than its cousins from South America. With a population of around 300 birds roaming free, efforts have been made to stabilize the population.

In the jungles of northern Guatemala, Scarlet Macaws can still be heard in the most remote corners. The subspecies, Ara Macao Cyanoptera, is a bit larger than its cousins from South America. With a population of around 300 birds roaming free, efforts have been made to stabilize the population.

The birds have many threats according the Rony García “The main problems these Guacamayas face is loss of habitat and illegal poaching”. The wildfires in northern Guatemala are mostly man-made, according to data from CONRED, there have been over 248 fires on the month of May 2023 alone. These fires have been difficult to deal with, Vicente Julajuj Cortez a forest firefighter lost his life while battling the fires in Sierra del Lacandón National Park.

These fires have continued to wreak havoc on the forests of Petén, “In 2010, Guatemala had 69400 km2 of natural forest, extending over 64% of its land area. In 2022, it lost 4696.31 km2 of natural forest, equivalent to 24.0 Mt of CO₂ emissions.” According to Global Forest Watch The efforts to protect these fragile birds from poachers and natural predators are numerous. From installing nests to using bee repellants, Africanized bees are a threat to the nesting Macaws, constant monitoring, and nursing.

One of the main activities in the camp of WCS in Laguna del Tigre is the upbringing of Scarlet Macaw chicks, since the birds only care for the first two born, if there is another egg technicians such as Jose Luis Salam will climb up the 30m tall Cantemó, Albizia niopoides, and secure them. Part of their routine is to constantly scan them while the birds are nesting, this is done from late February until early may when the mating season ends.

The birds are then placed on a soft release cage in the vicinity of the lab deep in the jungle, where they are fed and are left to their own devices until they join a flock of other macaws.

Even with greater success in introducing more birds into the wild population, the numbers don’t seem to rise. According to Rony García “there used to be flocks of over 40 birds that lived in these jungles, now it’s rare to see more that 8 together”. This can be due to poaching where Rony affirms that “In the black market, and in Guatemala City the price for one of these birds can reach upwards of 15,000 quetzales (around 2000USD)”.

Poachers make the job of Jose Luis Salam dangerous since there are only around 125 park rangers of Laguna del Tigre, 1 for every 23 km2 , and just over 400 park rangers in all of Guatemala.