Analysis of 100 raptors received at the birds of prey conservation and rescue program in the city of Buenos Aires.

ANDRÉS CAPDEVIELLE; FACUNDO BARBAR; MANUEL ENCABO; FLORENCIA SANZ; GUILLERMO WIEMEYER; MILENA DE BENITO; NAHUEL PALLITTO; NATALIA ROSCIANO; RAMIRO RODRÍGUEZ

Iguazú

Conferencia; Second Neotropical Raptor Conference; 2006

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Raptors have long been admired by people, resulting in many of them being captured and maintained in captivity, and, in some instances, subsequently transferred to rehabilitation and release programs. Here, we evaluate the results of the 100 raptors received and rehabilitated at the Buenos Aires Zoo, where the Birds of Prey Conservation and Rescue Program is located. Of the raptors received, 45% came from the City of Buenos Aires, 47% from the state of Great Buenos Aires, 7% from other provinces, and 1% from foreign countries. Sixty percent were donated by people that kept them in captivity, 20% were confiscated by Wild Fauna Direction Department, 3% by police actions, 15% by non-traditional actions, and 2% by transits. The most frequent causes of arrival are due to injuries in the wild, orphaned captive birds, recent captures, and diseased birds. The program released 34% of the birds received and 19% are currently being treated with the same objective. Thirty percent of received birds died due to their poor condition when they were received; 8% were killed by euthanasia; and 9% were moved to the education program. Rehabilitation has succeeded 62% of the time, often with the cooperation of many institutions. The high number of birds received, the reasons for their arrival, and their initial poor health show that the traffic and illegal captivity of raptors is a long-existing problem in and around the city of Buenos Aires.