S1 Ep1 - Protecting Belize’s Macaws with Boris Arevalo
Scarlet macaws are icons of the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. But in the Central American country of Belize, scarlet macaws are disappearing as poachers steal their chicks for the international pet trade.
In this episode of Wild World, Scott Solomon speaks with Dr. Boris Arevalo, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, who is working to protect these spectacular birds by any means possible, including camping at the base of the trees where they nest and rearing chicks until they're large enough to be safe from poachers. A native Belizean, Dr. Arevalo became a conservation biologist after learning about the threats facing the species he grew up with, including scarlet macaws, and noticing how few of the researchers working in the rainforests near his home were from Belize.
Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Arevalo and his team, poaching rates have plummeted and every chick that the team has reared over the last six years has been successfully reintroduced into the wild.
This episode of Wild World features music from Belizean musical group The Garifuna Collective: https://www.garifunacollective.com/
Wildlife Conservation Society - Belize
Friends for Conservation and Development, a Belizean NGO working to manage and protect Belize’s Chiquibul Forest
More about Belize’s scarlet macaws:
https://belizebirdconservancy.org/scarlet-macaw-project
