Abstract
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon (Amazona barbadensis) is the most endangered parrot species in Venezuela, the only species of its genus adapted to live in arid regions. It is found only in four small localities
on the Venezuelan coast and on the islands of Margarita, La Blanquilla and Bonaire. The only population under protection is that of the Macanao Peninsula in the island of Margarita, where in 1989 some 650 parrots were surviving. During the most recent ten years, the Lora Parque Fundaci6n has collaborated with Provita of Venezuela in various activities to protect the Yellow-shouldered Amazon. Thanks to these inter-institutional actions and the support of the local communities, the wild population of the Amazons has increased to more than 1,600 today.
Every year from March to August, the Yellow-shouldered Amazons raise their chicks in Macanao. Also each year, the nest-poachers and traffickers of birds engage in the robbing of these chicks from their nests to supply the pet trade. In order to curb the traf-. ficking which threatens this Regional Bird ofNueva Espana state, every year a team of conservationists dedicates itself to protecting the parrot nests located in a valley called La Chica, which is the main breeding area. The surveillance is an arduous and dangerous task, 24 hours a day, undertaken by local youths grouped together in the Eco-Guardians Cooperative under the direction of Provita. This surveillance has the support of the Municipal Police ofMacanao Peninsula, the National Guard Command of Boca del Rio, the Mayor of Macanao Peninsula and the Ministry of Popular Power for the Environment of the state of Nueva Espana, among other institutions.
Thanks to the Eco-Guardians and this grand alliance, on Sunday August 18th the last chick under protection in the reproductive period 2013 Rew from the nest, thus achieving a total of77 chicks saved to live in the wild this year. This figure is a....