Fires in the Pantanal

Really bad news. We've all heard about the fires raging in the Amazon, but they are also raging in the Pantanal and threatening the Hyacinthine macaws there. Here is the report by Neiva Guedes on the Parrots International facebook page:

"Dear friends.

The Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul is facing the largest burning in recent years. Fire has destroyed large areas, and among them is one of the most important research centers of the Hyacinth Macaw Project, the Caiman Ecological Refuge. In this farm, the project has a research base and a multitude of nests that are important reference for research collected for over the 30 years of project. The data collected and analyzed there are important indicators for the conservation results obtained over the years. Damage to the population of hyacinth macaws is incalculable. In addition to direct impacts such as burning nesting trees and smoke that kills the chicks, there will be indirect impacts such as food shortages, which will lead to competition and predation. We know that nature will recover, but the process is long. The Hyacinth Macaw Institute is engaged in all the technical and scientific actions that are being organized at this time and will bring many enlightening results to society. We will certainly have a lot of work and new research fronts and strategies to keep the macaw's population in the wild. For this fight to continue, the support of everyone is very important and through Parrots International you will be able to contribute to this project to continue with its important conservation achievements. The Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul is facing the largest burning in recent years. Fire has destroyed large areas, and among them is one of the most important research centers of the Hyacinth Macaw Project, the Caiman Ecological Refuge. In this farm, the project has a research base and a multitude of nests that are important reference for research collected for over the of 30 years of project. The data collected and analyzed there are important indicators for the conservation results obtained over the years. Damage to the population of hyacinth macaws is incalculable. In addition to direct impacts such as burning nesting trees and smoke that kills the chicks, there will be indirect impacts such as food shortages, which will lead to competition and predation. We know that nature will recover, but the process is long. The Hyacinth Macaw Institute is engaged in all the technical and scientific actions that are being organized at this time and will bring many enlightening results to society. We will certainly have a lot of work and new research fronts and strategies to keep the macaw's population in the wild. For this fight to continue, the support of everyone is very important and through Parrots International you will be able to contribute to this project to continue with its important conservation achievements.

In an update she wrote:

"So far, in the areas we monitor, even in the nests directly hit by the fire, the macaws and chicks are fine. The chicks are surviving. But we still have a large area to monitor. We have two teams here, one helping to fight the fire and one monitoring the nests. But our main concern is not only the fire, but the feeding areas there are also being burned and in the areas that were not affected by fire and where most of our nests are, predation will increase. Adding this to last year events, when we had the lowest reproduction rate of the last 30 years here in the Pantanal; it's very worrying, we are very worried. But we are here, we will evaluate these results and think about what we can do from now on."

To donate to this important work visit http://parrotsinternational.org/index.php/donate/Hyacinth Macaw Project.

We thank everyone who can join us."