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The critically endangered Fuertes's parrot is to recieve additional protection thanks to the combined efforts of Fundacion ProAves, World Lands Trust, the American Bird Conservancy and several other conservation organizations. These organizations recently acquired more than 350 acres of habitat critical to the Fuertes's parrot and eleven other threatened species of birds, mammals and amphibians.

Columbia's Fuertes's parrot is among the world's most endangered birds. The species consists of a population of fewer than 250 individuals. The bird is so rare that it was thought to have been extinct for 90 years. It was rediscovered in 2002 by ProAves biologists working under an American Bird Conservancy grant. The ProAves biologists discoverd a small population of about a dozen birds surviing in the high-elevation cloud forest of the Columbian Andes.

Gold mining and deforestation pose the greatest threat to the Fuertes's parrots and their habitat. To protect the rare birds requires constant funding and commitment on the part of conservation organizations. Their efforts have resulted in the establishment of the Threatened Parrot Corridor, a collection of reserves that blend both municiple and private reserves. The corridor covers some 18,000 acres of crucial habitat and now protects about 70 percent of the Fuertes's Parrot population.

Photo © Fundación ProAves.Rare Parrot Receives Increased Protection originally appeared on About.com Animals / Wildlife on Friday, April 27th, 2012 at 11:12:50.

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