A score of parrots, which were captured illegally in Ecuador, have been returned to the wild, through the careful and comprehensive work of a programme of reintroduction into nature thanks to the Loro Parque Foundation.
Captures of this type of parrot are more frequent than you might imagine. On this occasion, the local authorities were able to prevent the parrots from perishing due to the poor maintenance-conditions and stress to which these animals are usually subjected. The birds were confiscated through a police intervention and taken care of by a local zoo as part of a wild release project.
This reintroduction project was carried out in a non-gradual release aviary in the Buenaventura Reserve, where the Loro Parque Foundation also collaborates in the conservation programme of El Oro Parakeet along with the Jocotoco Foundation, the leading organisation in this particular reinsertion of the captured Red-Masked Parakeets.
There, the 20 specimens became adapted once more to the environment from which they were taken, after exhaustive veterinary studies that guaranteed the absence of any type of disease. They were also identified with rings and microchips that will allow them to be monitored and thus prevent them from being recaptured and falling again into the hands of those who work in the illegal market of wild species.
In addition, through the release of these birds, biometric data collection, medical analyses and behavioural observations were achieved, which are part of an important acquisition of knowledge about wild animals. Thanks to zoos, this data is an essential part of short- and long-term species protection.
This project is added to the many achievements of the Loro Parque Foundation for the conservation of future generations of animals. Hence, after more than US$19.6 million invested in more than 160 projects over five continents and nine species of parrots directly saved from imminent extinction, the Foundation reaffirms that ‘100 per cent for nature’ is not just a slogan, it’s a reality.
