Animal Rescue XXIV: Midorna, the Scarlet Macaw

Many wild animals that have been captured and submitted to the pet trade can be given their fair opportunity to live and die in their natural habitat, instead of a cage. Over the last decade, we have participated in the return to the forest of parrots, toucans, squirrels, monkeys, owls, doves, among many other animals. We have also provided a kind of hospice for lots of wild animals that were mortally injured, almost always as a consequence of some kind of human-wildlife conflict. Many times, these conflicts have been non directly intentional. Other times, conscious intent to harm or at least use harmful force against some wild animal occurred. Wild animal rescue may be needed for any of several, different reasons.

Midorna, a Scarlet Macaw, is a long-term resident of Estacion Biologica Laguna de Apoyo. Photo Andras Dorgai.

One of the ways wildlife encounter conflict with humans is because of the pet trade. Almost any animal can be found for sale on the side of the road at likely locations, many of them offered as pets, others as meat. A few species of animals in Nicaragua, however, are overwhelmingly victimized by the pet trade. One of those species is the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

New blood feathers, still covered in sheaths, are emerging along the neck of Midorna. Photo Andras Dorgai.

The Scarlet Macaw was first listed in Appendix III in the list of protected species of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in 1976. Its status was elevated to the more restrictive Appendix II in 1981, then to the most restrictive category for international trade, Appendix I, in 1985. In spite of this listing, the subspecies found in Mexico and Central America, Ara macao cyanoptera, has continued on a precipitous decline in wild populations. They had disappeared from El Salvador in the wild by 1987, and today in Nicaragua, fewer than 100 individuals are found in the wild, thanks principally to the pet trade.

For the few who earn her utmost trust, Midorna can be quite a playmate. Photo Andras Dorgai. 

Midorna is a female Scarlet Macaw that has lived a fairly typical life for its species in Nicaragua. There has never existed a macaw hatchery in Nicaragua, so she, like all the others of her species in captivity, were once wild animals, flying free over forests and fields. Because Scarlet Macaws fly above the canopy, and make tremendous rackets while flying, they do not go unnoticed, making their presence-and their absence-conspicuous. Until 1983, several individuals that roosted in the Chiltepe Peninsula would routinely fly over Lake Managua to reach the capital, where they were easily observed. Likewise, the last corroborated accounts of the Scarlet Macaw in the villages around Laguna de Apoyo were from 1969, where they were regarded as potential sources of income for those who could catch them for the pet trade, and as pests by farmers whose corn could be decimated quickly by a flock. Although we don't know her age, Midorna is evidently decades old already. 

Midorna craves attention and loves especially the company of males. Photo Andras Dorgai.

The pet trade has meant for Midorna, and for hundreds of other Scarlet Macaws in Nicaragua, a lot more than the tragedy of passing decades of her life in cages instead of the wild, where she belongs. During her capture and handling, or more bones in one of her wings was broken, leaving her absolutely incapable of flight. She knows perfectly well that nature gave her wings to fly, yet she cannot fly, or even make a soft landing if she falls from a height. She has been codemned to a flightless life in her conscious being, albeit she surely flies in her dreams. She loves to raise her wings and feel the wind in them, and to observe below from a high perch.

Midorna and her special friend. The majority of the red feathers that should provide a complete covering over her breast have been plucked by her. Photo Andras Dorgai.

Prisoners go mad when faced with extreme boredom in their incarceration. It should not be any surprise that a Scarlet Macaw would also react poorly to years in a cage. Boredom and isolation are guaranteed. Midorna has developed a behavioral disorder involving breaking and/or plucking her feathers. This disorder is chronic and recurrent: her feathers periodically regrow, only to be broken or plucked again. Even if she were to fly, this disorder would make her life in the wild impossible.

Midorna benefits from company, and becomes visibly happier with more interactions. Photo Andras Dorgai.

In these ways, not only has her life been robbed of years; her sentence for captivity is lifelong, and her own behavior is now plagued with pernicious actions that prejudice her own happiness. These issues are extremely common among macaws in captivity.

The Scarlet Macaw is no longer seen in the wild, almost anywhere in Nicaragua. Photo Andras Dorgai.

There are many issues at stake with what to do with Midorna. First and foremost, is the issue of the integrity of the wild populations that currently exist in Nicaragua and the region. If there is any way that Midorna's life can contribute to the healing and recovery of a stable, continuous, wild Scarlet Macaw population, then she should be at its service. There are many, many Scarlet Macaws in captivity throughout Nicaragua, and they could be placed into a captive reproduction program with the intention to create a new generation for release into the wild. Unfortunately, releasing Scarlet Macaws supposes a safe place for them to be released, which effectively does not yet exist. First, we need to create the conditions which discourage people from capturing them in the wild. At the moment, those conditions do not exist. So, Midorna is waiting.

Not just anyone would risk a kiss from Midorna. As a Scarlet Macaw, she has powerful mandibles that could rip flesh with ease. Photo Andras Dorgai.

Midorna can help to create the conditions for a future with Scarlet Macaws once again flying overhead in Laguna de Apoyo and similar areas. She is an ambassador for her species, for the tragedy of the pet trade. Nicaraguans and foreigners alike get to hear her story and contemplate the issues that are behind her condition. More is needed to change the tide, however.

The role of the Scarlet Macaw in wilderness policy in Nicaragua is the story that Midorna has to tell others. Photo Andras Dorgai.

Research, conservation policy advocacy, and education on the pet trade in wild animals are still needed in Nicaragua in a big way. You can help. First of all, don't buy wild animals as pets. Make your opinion heard among your friends. Second, get involved. Volunteer your time to care of wild animals, donate your spare change to help feed and care for them, or join us for a study of the issues behind the pet trade. Contact us at GAIA if you are interested!

Beards are a special attraction to Midorna. Our goal is that she is the happiest Scarlet Macaw in the country, because liberty is no longer an option. Photo Andras Dorgai.

Midorna loves attention, particularly from boys. Photo Jeffrey McCrary.

Midorna having an intense conversation. Photo Jeffrey McCrary.

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Animal Rescue XVI: Macaws in Estacion Biologica Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua

Life is good when you are caring for injured animals. Click on the photo to learn more about Bumbelina and Midorna, our most loved members of Estacion Biologica. Photo Jen Moran.

Everyone likes pet animals. Animals bring happiness to our life in a lot of ways, by showing affection, their physical attractiveness, and by humoring us with their actions. Animals like dogs and cats have evolved thousands of years in the presence of humans, to the point that they are incapable of living distant from us. It might even seem that we are co-dependent on them, too, sometimes we can't live without them. 

These two macaws have been rescued from the pet trade, and we care for them at Estacion Biologica in Laguna de Apoyo. Photo Jen Moran.

We humans have a disconcerting tendency to interfere with the other species with whom we share this planet, however. It isn't enough that we eat some, use others to make housing, clothing and utensils. We like the idea of having animals around us, doing our bidding. We see a beautiful animal such as a macaw in the forest, and we think, "I want one". Even the precolombian people were known to capture these majestic animals and keep them as pets. It is difficult for us to accept and appreciate animals in the wild without giving in to the urge to dominate them, by capturing or killing them. 

Feather-plucking is one of several responses to years of captivity for animals that were never meant to be in cages. This bird can never return to the wild, so we are giving her the best treatment we can. Photo Jen Moran. 

Our fascination with wild animals has some perverse consequences. We insist on demonstrating our strength and courage by dominating wild animals by riding wild bulls and roping calves in rodeos, for instance. Ernest Hemingway wrote long and eloquent of his fascination with hunting animals and with the bullfight, a continuing tradition in Spain and Latin America, in which the bullfighter is pitted in a life-and-death struggle with a large, angry animal, albeit armed with deadly lances. We all know this to be an unfair fight, but millions are thrilled when the animal is conquered violently. 

This bird's broken wing has doomed her to a long lifetime in captivity. The pet trade in wild animals is extremely cruel, and should never be supported. Please do not ever pay for a wild animal! Photo Jen Moran.

Among most of us today, bullfights and rodeos are not popular. But our fascination with wild animals is such that having a wild animal as a pet is common and few people criticize this practice. However, unlike dogs and cats, wild animals suffer greatly in captivity, in ways that we may ignore as pet owners. 

These two birds are best friends and inseparable. Both are severely psychologically and physically scarred by their handling in the pet trade. Photo Jen Moran.

The pet trade in wild animals has been devastating to wildlife in Nicaragua. Today, very few people have ever seen a macaw in the wild. Nicaragua has two species, the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) and the Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus). Until about 1983, a flock of Scarlet Macaws was easily spotted flying over urban Managua, during the day, returning to roost in the Chiltepe Peninsula before dark. The pet trade took that flock away. Along the Pacific region of Nicaragua, all of which is native habitat for this glorious animal, only perhaps ten or fifteen animals remain, in the northwest corner, in the Cosiguina Peninsula. It is sad that one can not enjoy these majestic animals by birdwatching, but rather, we have to watch them through the bars of cages in zoos and the homes of wealthy individuals. 

Although both these birds suffer dramatic psychological effects from captivity, they are dying for attention. Our Eco-Warrior Volunteers at Estacion Biologica Laguna de Apoyo help with their care. Photo Jen Moran.

Most of the wild animals we rescue at GAIA end up getting released into the wild, if all goes well, and they have their opportunity to live and die in the forest, not in a cage as subjects of the whims of humans. These two animals, however, will never return, thanks to the horrible abuse they have received in captivity. We are giving them the wildest experience possible, with cages that look to the forest, lots of space, and as diversified a set of experiences as we can manage. We hope that through our small efforts, Nicaragua is a better place for wild animals and humans, alike.

These macaws will love you!! But they still bite! Photo Jen Moran.

Would you like to help us care for rescued wild animals? Please consider volunteering with GAIA or making a donation. We need spare cages, money for food and veterinary costs, and volunteers to spend time serving them! Please contact us.

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Los Derechos de los Animales

Los animales llegaron hasta con ropa formal! Foto Jeffrey McCrary.

Marchando para reglamentar la Ley 747. Photo Wendy Pavón

El ser humano es capaz de lindas bondades, actos de amor y entrega. Pero a su vez, podemos ser indiferentes o hasta crueles, muchas veces sin reconocerlo. Vivimos en un mundo donde gente mata con justificaciones como "guerra" y luego expresamos cariño a nuestros queridos, familia, y hasta las mascotas. En este sentido, no debe sorprender a uno que nuestra manera de ver a los animales como seres con derechos absolutos que tenemos que respetar es algo nuevo. 

Se realizó la marcha con el apoyo de la Policía Nacional. Photo Jeffrey McCrary.

Los animales llegaron para exigir la Ley 747 reglamentada.

Como muchos otros paises, Nicaragua se encuentra en una discusión sobre cómo reconocer los derechos de los animales en nuestro entorno. Al inicio, luchar a favor de los animales parece una causa quixótica. En las ciudades, y en los pueblos, se ven perros en las calles con sarna, sin cuido, sin suficiente alimento, sin cariño y cuido de ningún ser humano. Muchas veces, estos perros tienen dueños, pero se considera apropiado mantener un perro en un estado miserable, casi siempre alegando falta de recursos. Lo mismo pasa con caballos. En ambos casos, cuando no son útiles o convenientes a sus dueños, son abandonados en la calle, para buscar como defenderse en una situación que no permite que no prosperen.

Hasta los gallos marcharon! Photo Jeffrey McCrary.

El entrañable Scooby llegó, también. Foto Wendy Pavón.

Hay otras áreas en las cuales hay conflictos sobre los derechos de los animales. Sigue en alto el deporte de pelea de gallos. Es un deporte de todos los domingos entre todo el interior del país, a pesar de que es nada más ni menos que una imposición cruel sobre dos animales. 

Pancartas pasaron los mensajes durante la marcha. Foto Jeffrey McCrary.

Otro serio problema en Nicaragua es la mezcla de los deseos de tener una mascota con la abundante vida silvestre alrededor. Frecuentemente, vemos monos, felinos, lapas, y otros animales que no son aptos para cautiverio, que fueron cazados y capturados del bosque para vender. Y lo más sorprendente y decepcionante es que hay personas que compran esos animales, pensando que pueden darles lo que realmente no se puede dar a un animal silvestre en una jaula. Cada animal silvestre debe vivir y morir en el bosque, no en una jaula. Estas y otras razones son las causas que nos motivan a promover una ley efectiva para proteger a los animales domesticados igual como los animales no domesticados. Hasta los circos tienen animales silvestres en exhibicion. 

De toda edad llegaron para reclamar por los derechos de los animales. Foto Jeffrey McCrary.

El recientemente aprobada Ley 747 ha sido un avance sustantivo en la materia de la defensa de los animales. Sin embargo, hasta la fecha, no se ha emitido un reglamento para la ley, lo que significaría las indicaciones para sanciones en casos de violaciones de la ley. Sin reglamento, la ley lleva mucho menos poder, porque es de menos utilidad cuando se toca llamar a las autoridades para resolver a un abuso. 

Los animales y sus amigos se tomaron la Carretera a Masaya. Foto Jeffrey McCrary.

La existencia de la Ley 747, a pesar de que sigue sin reglamentación, ha ayudado a dar publicidad sobre la criminalidad de los actos que perjudican a animales innecesariamente, y ha hecho muchos cambios en las actitudes de las personas en la sociedad. Las actitudes sobre el control de fertilidad de los perros, por ejemplo, han cambiado mucho recientemente. Otra señal es que un circo se presentó en Nicaragua sin animales en su espectáculo, por primera vez. 

Todos con ropa que lleva mensaje de la Ley 747. Foto Alejandra Zeledón.

Pero la evidencia mayor de cambios en las actitudes se están dando, es el gran número de personas que sumaron a la Marcha por los Animales el pasado 18 de abril 2015. Cientos de personas, con perros, hasta conejos, cobayos y gallos! Con pancartas y mantas, reclamando por la reglamentación de la Ley 747. Aunque no fuera cubierta por los medios nacionales, la marcha recibió atención de la prensa internacional en Europa (Euronews). 

Perros y personas, descansando en el Parque Cuba, después de la marcha. Foto Marvis Espinoza Smith.

Ayude a estos animales, sumando fuerzas con los grupos que ya existen, dando apoyo mutuo y compartiendo el trabajo. Si se siente con poco tiempo para ayudar, regale una bolsa de comida, una fruta (para los animales que las comen como lapas), etc. Te necesitamos!

Puedes contactarnos para decirnos que piensas de nuestro blog, o colgar un comentario abajo. 

Puedes ayudarnos a mantener la naturaleza salvaje en Nicaragua, dando de su tiempo con nosotros, o donar para apoyar a nuestros proyectos de conservacion.

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Animal Rescue XVI: Wild animals deserve to live free

Capturing an animal in the wild to make a pet of it is doubly insidious. The pressure on some animal species by the pet trade has caused the complete elimination of their populations in large areas. Macaws are a good example of this. We care for two macaws at Estacion Biologica Laguna de Apoyo, both were wild animals that suffered capture and brutal treatment in captivity.

Bumbelina is a Great Green Macaw. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

Both the macaws have broken wings, as a result of the rough treatment given to them in captivity. These poor animals will never fly again. Because of the cruelty of the commerce in wild animals in Nicaragua, they are permanently condemned to live with humans. At least we can give them natural surroundings where they can be happy. The have large enclosures which permit them to move around and see in all directions, into the sky and the forest. They are allowed to leave their enclosures daily, and they get an ample, varied diet, with lots of interactions with people and other birds.

We kept the two macaws in a common enclosure several months. The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), however, has developed a common ailment among captive new world parrots-feather plucking. She plucks not only her own feathers, but also the feathers of her best friend Bumbelina, the Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus). We have placed a mesh divider between them, so they can see each other and even touch through the mesh, but no more plucking! Feather plucking is one of many pathological manifestations of wild animals in captivity when they should be free in their natural habitats.

These baby opossums were brought to us by kind-hearted folks who found them abandoned. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

We at GAIA provide shelter for wild animals that have been found injured or unable to survive in the wild without rehabilitation, and pets that owners request to return to the wild. Recently, we received two young common opossums (Didelphis virginianus). These animals were found by a Nicaraguan family who gave them lots of care while they grew. But they found that the animals were needing more space and soon should be ready to be liberated. We took them and quickly returned them to the wild. They lived a few weeks in a hollow tree on our property, before moving on to the forest behind Estacion Biologica in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve.

This White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa) chick was raised at Estacion Biologica and released into the wild, where he continues to live happily. Photo Jeffrey McCrary.

We have great plans to continue, to improve and amplify our capacity to handle wild animals. We need your help. Would you like to volunteer some time to care for wild animals? Or donate food or money to pay for their well-being? We need lots of cashews, fresh fruit, and materials for cages, among other things. Please contact us if you would like to volunteer or make a donation. Please help us make Nicaragua a better place for all beings.

Contact us to participate in animal rescue!

Animal Rescue X: Nicaraguan Macaws

Two species of macaws, large parrots of the genus Ara, are found in Nicaragua. The Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus) is limited to extremely humid areas with abundance of a particular tree, Dipteryx panamensis, and it is only found from Mexico to northern South America. The bird is big and noisy and flies above the canopy while screaming, bringing ample attention to it wherever it goes. As a result, its population has been severely affected by commerce in macaws as pets. Today, only about 2500 adult birds are left in the wild, the majority of them in the Rio San Juan area of Nicaragua.

Bumbelina is a Great Green Macaw. Photo by Hans Rademaker.

The birds are heavy, strong, and have large, piercing claws and beaks that can sever a finger. Handling them requires rough treatment if they are wild. Sadly, these birds are pursued for the pet trade so vigorously that broken wings and legs do not deter the pet traders from ravaging the forests.
Bumbelina, pictured here, has suffered this typical, yet tragic, fate. We do not know her specific history, we can only reconstruct it. Her right wing was so badly broken that it required amputation. She loves to flap her wings, but given that her right wing is now a stump, she can not even manage a soft landing. Falling from any height presents a risk for her. Furthermore, she has been affected psychologically by the trauma of captivity: she is extremely unsocial, does not permit any human to touch her. (Yet.)

Bumbelina sits atop her cage. Photo by Hans Rademaker.

The Great Green Macaw is the largest of all the macaws. Like all others, Bumbelina "walks" on three points, using her beak as a third appendage when climbing on any but the flattest of surfaces. Her splendid colors include bright red, baby blue, maroon, and lots of green. When excited, the light pink skin exposed on her face flushes to bright red.

The Great Green Macaw is the most endangered of the macaw species found in Central America. Photo by Hans Rademaker.

The association between this species and the river almond tree Dipteryx panamensis is remarkable and problematic.  Not only are these birds pursued for the pet trade, the tree with which it associates is harvested for its fine wood. The trees remaining in Nicaragua Because so few birds remain in the wild, and because the habitat and the birds themselves are under severe, direct threats, the Great Green Macaw is now listed as Endangered.

The Great Green Macaw loves to climb. Photo by Hans Rademaker.

Bumbelina came to us accompanied by a Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), named Midorna. These birds are rescued from the pet trade in Nicaragua. Midorna is considerably more sociable than Bumbelina, and she allows brave people to touch her, sometimes. She, too, was captured in the wild and subjected to the trade in wild animals as pets. Captivity has also been very unfortunate for her. She has a broken wing which prevents flight, so she, like Bumbelina, will never return to the wild. Life in a cage has led to self-destructive behaviors, too, such as feather-plucking. She has eliminated many of the feathers on her breast and back, and she has begun to do the same to Bumbelina. This is a typical pathology of animals kept in captivity without sufficient recreation. 

Midorna is a female Scarlet Macaw, now residing at Estacion Biologica Laguna de Apoyo. Photo by Hans Rademaker.

Their calm demeanor and spectacular plumage make the Scarlet Macaw highly prized as a pet. As a result, these birds no longer can be found over almost all the Pacific region of Nicaragua, where they are native. The last bird regularly seen in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve was in 1969, according to the consensus of older residents. The Scarlet Macaws were either captured for use as pets, or killed for their aptitude as crop pests. Macaws can eat a lot of corn in the field! No one thought, just a few decades ago, that these majestic birds would never again fly over the cities and countryside of western Nicaragua.

The Scarlet Macaw is no longer found in most of the Pacific region of Nicaragua, thanks to hunting and the pet trade. Photo by Hans Rademaker.

Don't be a part of the problem. Macaws are not entirely domesticatable animals. If set free in a setting with abundant food available, they rarely return willingly. Even hand-raised birds from captive-breeding programs will readily go wild if permitted. These birds want to be free, and whenever feasible, they should. Most of the macaws treated as pets in Nicaragua are owned by wealthy people, especially non-Nicaraguans, who propel the illegal trade in these animals.
The macaws found in the pet trade or their progenitors were the victims of poorly established or enforced laws regarding poaching and the trade in wild animals. However, better procedures for enforcing environmental laws are now operating throughout the ranges of the macaws. Active monitoring of many macaws populations are now underway, as well as environmental education programs. Forests are protected against habitat destruction as well as poaching, better than at any time in the past. Some of the forests could be inhabited by macaws, if only there were a program to reinstate them into natural areas.
Even when macaws in the pet trade are injured, such as Bumbelina and Midorna, they could still be utilized as genetic stock in a program to reinstate wild macaws into the forests. If you know of anyone with a macaw, encourage this person to led the bird to a captive breeding program. There are so few of these birds left in the wild, every fertile adult in captivity could play an important role in saving the species over large parts of their habitats.

These beautiful birds need a lot of attention and food. Would you like to help them? Feel free to make a visit, bring them a bag of nuts or a papaya. These birds consume large quantities of food, so your donations are more than welcome. Macaws live for many decades, so these birds need a lot of resources to make their lives happy. If you would like to help these birds, please visit or write. 

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