2019
by Aves Argentinas

Prevent the Yellow Cardinal extinction, mitigating the impact of illegal trade on the species

Back to projects
Species protection
2019
by Aves Argentinas

Prevent the Yellow Cardinal extinction, mitigating the impact of illegal trade on the species

The Yellow Cardinal Project goal is to improve it conservation status in Argentina by increasing survival rate of individuals derived from illegal wildlife trade and restoring their functional traits at their native environments. Our strategies to achieve these goals are:

  1. To increase capacity building of law enforcement agents by a mobile app and a protocol, which will allow quick identification and special requirements of each confiscated bird species.
  2. To improve survival rate of confiscated individuals by improving health and care protocols.
  3. To study the survival rate of rewilding cardinals in their original habitat and identify negative factors.

We will develop a mobile app of smuggled species using our free one to identify bird species from Argentina as a temple. Each species will have photos and information about where to report and how handle confiscated individuals. When an individual is identify as Yellow Cardinal, it will have a differential treatment. After a quarantine, we will put radio tagging to the 10% of the individuals to know the survival rate and soft and hard release strategies will be applied. Once released, they will be monitored daily during at least two months period.

Name organisation:
Aves Argentinas
Start date:
01-08-2019
Funding:
€10000
Country/Territory:
Argentina
Name organisation:
Aves Argentinas
Start date:
01-08-2019
Funding:
€10000
Country/Territory:
Argentina Africa

Enhancing knowledge to save captured Yellow Cardinal birds

In Argentina, 90% of species which suffer illegal traffic are birds. Yellow Cardinal is a globally endangered passerine endemic of southern South America. Populations are declining due to the loss of its natural habitat and continues extraction of males, for illegal pet trade. It is extremely rare in Brazil and, less than 300 survive in Uruguay while, Argentina holds more than 90% of its population. Current conservation strategies attempt to release confiscated individuals to nature. However, low survival rate was detected during the re-wilding process due to wrong identification and poor knowledge about the species by wildlife enforcement agencies.

 

It will improve confiscated Yellow Cardinal’s survival, supporting the recovery of its wild populations focusing our energy in pragmatic conservation strategies that encourage the establishment of a cooperative relationship between different stakeholders involved with management of confiscated wildlife. It will produce a management plan of the confiscated individuals which seeks to increase the survival rates of cardinals from illegal wildlife trade and restore their functional traits in their native environments. It will be the first management plan for confiscated individuals developed for Argentinean birds. These actions will serve as experience for threatened Neotropical songbirds affected by illegal trade.