Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Program to Protect Highly Endangered Bird

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

CARACAS, May 28 2012 (IPS) - The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research and Bararida Zoo in the city of Barquisimeto are launching a program to protect the red siskin (Carduelis cucullata), a highly endangered bird that lives in the country’s northwest region. "We will be conducting research to establish the genetic bases of wild populations of the red siskin, as well as gathering specimens for breeding in captivity, in order to eventually reintroduce them into their natural habitat,” veterinarian Leonel Ovalle of the Bararida Zoo told Tierramérica.

It is hoped that other governmental and non-governmental agencies will join the initiative, added Ovalle.

The original habitat of the red siskin included western and northern Venezuelan, but its populations have been decimated by trapping for the cage bird trade. The little bird with bright red plumage is on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).