iStockphoto.com/Daniel Budiman
DCL
The Puerto Rican parrot has been up against tough odds for years. It dropped from a population of 2,000 in the 1930s to a total of 13 in 1975 and is now confined to an area of 16 km2, which represents .2 percent of its original habitat. Also known as Iguaca, the parrots were declared endangered in 1967. Conservationists have been working to restore the bird's wild population, with the goal of two groups of 500 birds each in separate areas, and captive breeding efforts in the region have made strides toward achieving that goal. There are now an estimated 85 birds living the wild, all in the El Yunque rainforest or part of the Rio Abajo Parrot Program, and 143 in captivity.
Much of the forest land suitable for the parrots' habitat has been destroyed by the captive bird trade and hunting for pest control, which means the birds now also face threats in competing for increasingly rare nesting sites—as well as the already built-in threats of predation and hurricanes. (Hurricane Hugo in 1987 wiped out more than half of the region's remaining 47 wild parrots.)
Conservation efforts have given small boosts to the population size, but progress has been slow and steady at best. In 1992, all of about 22 parrots were left in the wild, 58 were being raised in captivity, and a reintroduction effort later that year boosted the wild population to about 40. The population has held relatively steady since, with an estimated 30-35 wild parrots in 2004. An additional 20 captive-bred birds were released into the Rio Abajo State Forest in 2006, another 26 in 2007, and 19 in 2008.
Don't miss the Focus Earth Episode: The Last Resort: Captive Breeding.
