Mayor Renán Barrera Concha was part of the group that personally released eight specimens of the species Amazona albifrons (White-fronted Parrot)
Mérida, Yucatán, March 22, 2022.- With the aim of strengthening and protecting the wild population found in the Municipality, the Mérida City Council promotes actions that guarantee their care and preservation, as well as the safe reintegration of these species to its natural habitat.
As part of these actions, Mayor Renán Barrera Concha, accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Santa María-UNAM Project and municipal authorities, witnessed this morning the release of eight specimens of the Amazon species albifrons (White-fronted Parrot), which were protected after being identified as a product of illegal species trafficking by federal authorities.
The Municipal President, accompanied by Hernán Cárdenas López, federal delegate of SEMARNAT in Yucatán; Paulina Peniche Rodríguez and Gabriela Baqueiro Valencia, members of the Sustainability Commission, were responsible for releasing the specimens in the Anikabil Archaeological-Botanical Park, located in the Ciudad Caucel subdivision, to reintegrate them into their natural habitat.
In this activity, Barrera Concha stressed that the release of these specimens plays a very important role for the Municipality, since it is considered an ally species in the fight against climate change.
“At the City Council we promote all kinds of actions aimed at the well-being of our fauna and the preservation of the environment, because it is an issue that also impacts the health of the entire population,” he said.
He indicated that, as part of the care of wildlife in the Municipality, the Commune has three Wildlife Conservation Units (UMAs) located in the Centennial Park, Animaya Bicentennial Zoo and Cuxtal Ecological Reserve, which are spaces for the conservation of the natural habitat and populations and specimens of wild species.
He reported that in June 2019 alone, personnel from the UMA of Animaya and the Federal Delegation of SEMARNAT in Yucatan, returned another 25 specimens of wildlife to their natural habitat.
On that occasion, the specimens that were released went through a period of rehabilitation, these were two boas (boa constrictor), a gray hawk (Buteo nitidus), 20 mojinas turtles (rhinoclemmys areolata) and two swamp crocodiles ( crocodylus moreletii).
Prior to the release of the white-fronted parrots, Claudia Ham Vega, technical coordinator of the Animaya Bicentennial Zoological Park, explained that these eight specimens, the product of illegal species trafficking, were deposited at the Animaya UMA for their rehabilitation and necessary care prior to their release.
“It has taken us two years to prepare these animals for their reinsertion to their original habitat. The animals had the least interaction possible with Animaya personnel, the verification of the biosafety protocol, a special diet during their recovery gradually incorporating foods that they are going to get in their natural habitat,” she continued.
“In this process, they were kept away from human beings, always under a special protocol in order not to stress the animals,” she explained.
Ham Vega stressed that this species is essential in the conservation of tropical ecosystems as they are important seed dispersers, so this type of bird is considered an ally in the fight against climate change.
The white-fronted parrot is a species whose historical and current natural distribution includes the three states of the Yucatan Peninsula, belongs to the psittacine family (that also includes macaws and parrots), and is currently listed as a seriously threatened species due to the illegal trade and the loss and degradation of their habitat.
Also present at the release were Alejandra Bolio Rojas and José Collado Soberanis, directors of the Sustainable Development Unit and Municipal Public Services, respectively; José Salvador Canul Dzul, head of Wildlife, SEMARNAT, Yucatán; José Pierre Medina, legal representative of the Santa María-UNAM Project and Vanesa Martínez, technical director of the Santa María-UNAM Project.
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