Wildlife in Argentina:The Cauquen Case
There are 1000 species of birds in Argentina and 120 of them are endangered according to Aves Argentinas, a non profit organization.
In Argentina one of the main factors that puts wild birds in danger is unrestricted hunting. Most Provincial Governments don’t put a limit on this. When a limit is set, there is no control over its observance.
One of the most beautiful and more threatened species is the cauquenes or kaikenes (Ruddy-headed Goose or Magellan Goose), similar in aspect to the goose.
They have robust bodies and small heads and inhabit Tierra del Fuego, a great island in the south of Argentina. These birds are chosen by hunters because they are a good size.
There are five species of cauquenes (Chloephaga) in Argentina. Some of them, for instance cauquens with grey heads (Ashy-headed Goose), are indeed abundant. However, red-headed cauquens (Ruddy-headed Goose) are in danger of extinction.
A troubling factor is that grey cauquen females are very much alike to red-headed cauquens. Grey cauquens are considered a plague to agriculture, so governments have freely given permission to hunt them. Moreover, the government is in favour of hunting grey cauquens, which is a controversial issue per se. The consequences: because of hunter’s ignorance and lack of government control, threatened red-headed cauquens are drastically decreasing in numbers.
Only two populations of red-headed cauquens exists in the world. One lives in Malvinas Islands and the other in Tierra del Fuego’s northern steppe. In the winter they fly from the south, all trough the Patagonia land , to the fields in Buenos Aires province.
This population is estimated to be only a thousand individuals. In Argentina it is in the red book of threatened birds, flagged as endangered.
Fortunately, some provincial governments from Patagonia and the Buenos Aires government recently became aware of the need to protect read headed cauquens and started working together. This is something to salute; they have even handed out brochures with information.
Image1: Flickr
Image2: Flickr
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