The Endangered Resplendent Quetzal

February 12^th, 2008

SEA DISC

Endangered Species Webpage Content

The Resplendent Quetzal is a beautiful and magnificently colored bird that dwells in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. The Quetzal’s beauty has been recognized as sacred and divine for centuries by the ancient South American cultures of the Aztecs and Mayans. Their long beautiful tail feathers were often plucked (without harming the bird) and used for crowns, and symbolized royal status.

Today the Resplendent Quetzal is on the U.S. Endangered Species Act 1976 because of human destruction of their natural forest habitat and poaching. The population of these birds depends on a very small, specific habitats that are constantly being subjected to human modification and destruction, which puts the species at high risk for extinction. These birds rely on both a highland breeding habitat as well as a low land off season retreat, both of which are becoming increasingly fragmented and cut down for agricultural use. Poaching also poses a threat to the population in areas where the laws are not easily enforced. They are hunted for food, trade, and its beautiful plumes. (Pribor, 1999)

http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Spring99Projects/quetzal.htm

http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/birds/Pharomachrus_mocinno/more_info.html

The Resplendent Quetzal Today

The Quetzal was once a thriving species in the Costa Rican Cloud forests, but because of rapidly increasing deforestation and fragmentation (the building of roads through forest areas) their numbers have dropped to below 1,000 with an estimated 400 breeding pairs left. (Hull, 2007)

Quetzals breed and nest in Monteverde during the months of March- July, then migrate across the country down to the lower forests near the Pacific slope, and then again to the Atlantic slope for the remainder of the year. This migration pattern is very important to the Quetzal because it requires the three distinct regions to ensure a year-round food source. When their distinct migration trails are fragmented by roads it affects their breeding pattern and population size. Since the females only lay 2 little eggs at a time and only about 25% of their total eggs survive to maturity it is very important that they have the whole uninterrupted breeding season for procreation. (Cloud forest alive, 2007)

The ever increasing issue of deforestation causes the loss of biodiversity in plants, animals, and resources, which are needed to keep the forests and planet in balance. Forests are important to Earth’s natural balance because they provide water and air purification, prevent erosion, and contain essential food webs and habitats. (Miller, 2007)

Though rainforests only cover about 6% of Earth’s total surface, they contain ¾ of all known species and are extremely important to conserve and sustain. Most rainforests are subjected to mining, drilling, flooding, cash crop plantations, and fragmentation, which are all secondary causes of premature extinction of the Quetzal and other Costa Rican inhabitants.

Protection of the Resplendent Quetzal

The conservation of Costa Rica’s amazing rainforests and organisms is a very important issue to many people and there are many things being done to protect the Quetzal and other species. Currently the Quetzal is protected in Costa Rica, but it is hard to enforce poaching laws in the remote areas of the forest, so many wildlife reserves and national parks have been established across the species’ range. (Wild Screen, 2003) There are also laws and regulations, governmental agencies, and local community actions helping to conserve the Quetzal’s habitat.

Because keeping the rainforest intact is so important to the survival of many species especially the Quetzal, Costa Rica has harnessed the power of Eco-Tourism to create wild life reserves and protected areas. Eco-tourism helps provide jobs to the local residents and decreases the poverty rate and the need to sell land for agricultural purposes. Also, as mentioned before, the Monteverde forest in Costa Rica is protected so that the Quetzals have a breeding ground to migrate to every year. This wildlife refuge is home to thousands of different species of plants and animals and a no poaching law is enforced here, where as in other parts of unprotected land, enforcement is near impossible.

The Oso Campaign is another conservation effort established in Costa Rica to protect the forests and inhabitants. Their stated goals are:

They are partnered with many local, national, and international partners and work every day to towards their goals.

The Resplendent Quetzal attracts many tourists to South America and the money made from eco-tourism of the wildlife reserves benefits local economies greatly. (Wild Screen, 2003) Costa Rica is perfectly located for environmental friendly eco-tourism with cloud forests, active volcanoes and thousands of species of exotic animals. According to a TED case study conducted in 2000 there were 1.1 million visitors to Costa Rica who generated a tourism revenue of $1,138,000,000. (Dasenbrock, 2002)

One main reason eco-tourism is so successful in Costa Rica is because of its rich biodiversity. If the forests keep getting destroyed the species that inhabit them are likely to become threatened and extinct, and cause many negative economical effects. So by creating national parks and wildlife reserves, not only are the Quetzals along with thousands of other species being saved, the country’s economy is boosted, jobs are created, and habitats stay intact. (Pena, 2001)

The Pros and Cons of Ecotourism in Costa Rica Julie Dasenbrock http://www.american.edu/TED/costa-rica-tourism.htm#general

The Quetzal’s Environmental Importance to Costa Rica

Anyone who has ever caught a rare glimpse of a wild Resplendent Quetzal soaring through the canopies of the lush cloud forests of Costa Rica can tell you that it is truly one of the most beautiful and divine birds on earth. Their iridescent green plumes snagging rays of sunlight and their colorful chests protruding into the air as it flies, wings spread, singing its magnificent song is a sight that alone could make a blind man see. But besides having such great aesthetic value, the quetzal has intrinsic value, meaning it is important to the environment.

These lovely little birds soar through from fruit tree to fruit tree feasting on wild avocados and spreading their seeds to other parts of the forest. The Quetzal is dependent on the wild avocados as a food source just as the avocados need to quetzal to spread their seed. If something were to happen to the quetzal and the avocado seeds were not distributed the other birds and animals that also depend on the wild avocado would have to turn to a need source of food. The Quetzal’s niche is a small but it important to the ecosystem and to the food web and helps balance the natural lifestyle of the other rainforest inhabitants. (Pribor, 1999)

The Quetzal holds not only intrinsic and aesthetic value, but also bequest value. This is a bird that people travel thousands of miles to view and I hope that one day my grandchildren will be able to see this bird in nature and not just in a history book. This is reason enough for me to want to protect its dwindling numbers.

If you feel passionately about saving endangered species there are many ways to get involved and help prevent animal extinction. One way to make a difference is to donate to an organization or charity that donates its profits to conservation groups in Costa Rica such as the ‘Adopt-A-Rainforest’ project as part of the non-profit, Rainforest Alliance. Organizations like this collect money from other organizations, or schools from fundraisers, or simply from concerned individuals. The donations go to the purchasing and sustainable management of tropical rainforests, and help protect all the animals inside. (Rainforest Alliance, 2007)

In order to help protect the endangered quetzal, the causes need to be identified, recognized, and fixed. The leading causes of endangerment are fragmentation, deforestation and poaching. In order to stop these terrible things from happening the Cloud Forests need to be protected and heavy enforcement needs to be put in place to stop the poaching and illegal selling of these birds.