Tuesday, February 01, 2000
Zoo restores macaws to native range in Trinidad
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The once plentiful blue and gold macaw, eradicated from Trinidad 40 years ago by the exotic pet trade, is back in its native range thanks to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.
Back and flourishing, says Dave Oehler, head of the zoo's aviculture department and co ordinator of the macaw repopulation project.
The neon bright macaws (Ara ararauna) are the size of a common house parrot, with lime green head feathers, bright yellow cheeks and electric blue bodies. Fifty years ago, they were common in Trinidad. Today, they're found mostly in Guyana.
The zoo's involvement dates to 1993, when a wildlife officer from Trinidad, here visiting zoo botanist Bernadette Plair, asked Mr. Oehler about breeding the macaws. At the time, the zoo had a highly successful breeding program (the zoo no longer has macaws), and Mr. Oehler gave him the crash course.
Later that year, the Trinidad Division of Wildlife and the Manatee Conservation Trust (the groups that administer Trinidad's Bush Bush Sanctuary in the Nariva Swamp) asked him to pick a team of zoo staffers to supervise a project that would bring the endangered parrot back to Trinidad.
Since then Mr. Oehler, keepers Steve Malowski and Ricky Kinley, and Ms. Plair have been laying groundwork, including locating a macaw colony large enough to sustain the loss of nine breeding pairs.
They found one in Guyana last summer, but it wasn't until December that the team was ready to release the birds in Bush Bush.
One of the reasons Mr. Oehler accepted the project is his belief that modern zoos have to do more than warehouse and show off animals. “It's our job to play an active role in conservation,” he said.
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