Crax blumenbachii. Red-billed curassow female
Belgium. Antwerp Zoo.
Crax blumenbachii was formerly widespread in east Brazil, from Bahia south through Espírito Santo and east Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro. Wild populations are currently known from eight reserves, with strongholds of considerably more than 60 birds in Sooretama Biological Reserve, over 100 birds in the adjacent Vale do Rio Doce Natural Reserve (formerly Linhares Forest Reserve) in Espírito Santo, and 35-40 birds (in 2003) in Descobrimento National Park, Bahia4. It may be extinct in Monte Pascoal National Park, Bahia, and Rio Doce State Park, Minas Gerais where it has not been reported since the 1970s4. Other recent records come from Ituberá, Serra do Conduru State Park, Pau-Brasil National Park, Una Biological Reserve and Serra das Lontras, all in Bahia4. A census of Una Biological Reserve and the nearby private reserve of Fazenda Capitão in 2005-2006 found only five individuals in 430 hours of observation along 329 km of transects6. There have been no confirmed records of wild birds from Rio de Janeiro since 1963 and none from Minas Gerais since the 1970s, however birds have now been reintroduced at sites in both states4. A successful captive-breeding and reintroduction programme has boosted numbers in the wild1,2,5, including 28 released and radio-tracked between August 2006 and September 2007 at REGUA, Rio de Janeiro (of which 9 had died by September 2007)5. The total population remains extremely small.
Crax blumenbachii. Red-billed curassow female
Belgium. Antwerp Zoo.
Crax blumenbachii was formerly widespread in east Brazil, from Bahia south through Espírito Santo and east Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro. Wild populations are currently known from eight reserves, with strongholds of considerably more than 60 birds in Sooretama Biological Reserve, over 100 birds in the adjacent Vale do Rio Doce Natural Reserve (formerly Linhares Forest Reserve) in Espírito Santo, and 35-40 birds (in 2003) in Descobrimento National Park, Bahia4. It may be extinct in Monte Pascoal National Park, Bahia, and Rio Doce State Park, Minas Gerais where it has not been reported since the 1970s4. Other recent records come from Ituberá, Serra do Conduru State Park, Pau-Brasil National Park, Una Biological Reserve and Serra das Lontras, all in Bahia4. A census of Una Biological Reserve and the nearby private reserve of Fazenda Capitão in 2005-2006 found only five individuals in 430 hours of observation along 329 km of transects6. There have been no confirmed records of wild birds from Rio de Janeiro since 1963 and none from Minas Gerais since the 1970s, however birds have now been reintroduced at sites in both states4. A successful captive-breeding and reintroduction programme has boosted numbers in the wild1,2,5, including 28 released and radio-tracked between August 2006 and September 2007 at REGUA, Rio de Janeiro (of which 9 had died by September 2007)5. The total population remains extremely small.