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Friday, August 8, 2025

Blue and Gold Macaws saved from extinction

by

1724 days ago
20201117

The Pointe-a-Pierre Wild­fowl Trust re­cent­ly re­leased two Blue and Gold Macaws as part of its ‘breed and re­lease’ pro­gramme of en­dan­gered species.

Once found on­ly in the Nar­i­va Wet­lands, the species was en­dan­gered and close to ex­tinc­tion in T&T due to the de­struc­tion of its habi­tat, "food trees" and trap­ping for the il­le­gal pet trade. There were on­ly 15 birds left in the wild in 1959

Since the 1990s Trust has re­leased Blue and Gold Macaws back in­to their nat­ur­al home, the Nar­i­va Wet­lands. These birds are be­ing bred at the Trust and reared by their macaw par­ents as a part of an on­go­ing pro­gramme. They are raised from hatch­ing to ful­ly-flight­ed young adults with min­i­mal in­ter­ac­tion with peo­ple for re­lease in­to the wild.

There are 315 species of the par­rot/macaw fam­i­ly (Psittaci­dae) in the world. Most of them are found in South Amer­i­ca, the Ama­zon Basin and T&T. Lo­cal­ly, the Blue and Yel­low Macaw (Ara ara­rau­na) found main­ly in the Nar­i­va Wet­lands where their food—palm seeds es­pe­cial­ly the Moriche Palms and Sand­Box seeds—can be found.

Thee Red Bel­lied Macaw (Ara mani­la­ta) is found in the Nar­i­va Swamp but main­ly in the Aripo Sa­van­nah.

Pre­vi­ous re­leas­es were the en­dan­gered macaws were done in Nar­i­va and cen­tral Trinidad.

Some species of this fam­i­ly live 50 to 100 years.


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