Blue-Fronted Parrot Project

Voltar

Handling and Conservation in Pantanal and in the Cerrado - State of Mato Grosso do Sul - MS, Brazil

Every year, hundreds of Blue-fronted parrot (Amazona aestiva) offsprings are removed from Pantanal and from the Cerrado* of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul to supply the illegal trade of pet animals, within and outside Brazil. An important indicator of that activity is the more than 4 thousand parrots seized, since 1988, by inspection bodies. It is estimated that the real number of animals taken from their natural habitats is two or three times bigger.

Such numbers bring concern to environmentalists and authorities, who started to consider the Blue-fronted Parrot the symbol species of the traffic of wild animals in the State of Mato Grosso. Purposing to generate information about that particular species and to alert the population as to the damages caused upon nature, deriving from the traffic of wild animals, the zootechnist and doctorate degree student in Ecology and Conservation/UFMS, Gláucia Seixas, began in 1997, the Blue-fronted parrot Project.

The project wants to focus everyone's attention to an important aspect: the removal of those animals from nature, under no criteria, and the destruction of the environment where they inhabit will contribute to the extinction of the species.

The first farm to support the project was Caiman Ecological Refuge where, since 1997, the team develops research actions and environmental education. Many results have already been witnesses throughout these past years, including information about: monitoring of seized parrots and release wearing radio-transmitters; monitoring of nests, eggs and offsprings of free-parrots; monitoring of collective native parrot nests and verification of the daily activity pattern of the parrots and the use of natural resources for feeding and reproduction. Many results have already been published in scientific periodicals or non-scientific journals, specialized books and events.

All the activities were developed with the support of a team comprising biologists, veterinarians, zootechnists and field assistants. The project is carried out by a Non-Governmental Organization of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul - Fundação Neotrópica do Brasil.

Besides Caiman, the project counts on donations, sales project products and support from companies such as the Parque das Aves - Foz Tropicana, Refúgio da Ilha Ecologia and Fazenda San Francisco.

By: Gláucia H. F. Seixas

Coordinator of the Blue-fronted parrot Project