SSRP Abstract

Board 15: Conservation of the Macaw

Student Scientist: Zynnia Peterson ’23
Research Mentor: Macaw Recovery Network

Over the summer I spent a month at a breed and release facility for Scarlet and Great Green Macaws in Costa Rica. I participated in nutrition management, aviary cleaning, chick checkups, enrichment maintinence, and necropsies. The experience was a great opportunity to dip my toes into what is required to reintroduce species into an area.

As humans continue to expand their influence across the globe there has been a drastic negative affect on the natural world. This has lead to what many call the sixth great extinction. While we have not found a strategy to full negate negative human induced affects on the world many strategies have been adopted to combat this loss of biodiversity. Conservation is the protection of wildlife and their ecosystems through the creation of reservations, listing species as protected, creating breeding projects, and many other avenues. During the month of July I participated in a breed and release project of Scarlet and Great Green Macaws in Costa Rica as a strategy to increase the wild population. While most of my duties included daily care of these birds, it was an opportunity to gain insight into what it takes to bring a species back from the brink of extinction. From nutrition management to human adversion training, there are many aspects in maintaining an individual’s ability to be wild while also allowing for occasional human intervention especially in a species that is highly social and intelligent.