CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR NEOTROPICAL GUANS, CURASSOWS AND CHACHALACAS (GALLIFORMES: Cracidae)

Executive Summary

Over the past 20 years, the Family Cracidae has become a focal group for conservation efforts throughout the Neotropics. This family of 50 large, ecologically important primary forest birds is particularly susceptible to human disturbance (both hunting and habitat destruction), and now is considered the most threatened avian group in the region. Because of their ethnobiological importance, guans and curassows are primary cadidates for use as bio-indicators for monitoring and management of protected areas throughout Latin America, as well as flagship species for the conservation of Neotropical rainforests.

Beginning in 1981, a series of three international symposia have been held to discuss the status of the Cracidae and to coordinate field investigations and captive management efforts to improve conservation programs for these species (Mexico 1981, Venezuela 1988, Houston 1994). As a result of these initiatives, the Cracid Specialist Group (CSG) was formed in 1990 under the auspices of the World Pheasant Association, BirdLife International and the Species Survival Commission.

From 1989-1994, the CSG has operated under the guidelines of a draft Action Plan (a result of the Venezuelan Cracid Symposium). Over 20 field surveys and investigations were undertaken during this period, and the resultant data has indicated further emphases for action as well as the need for a Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (CAMP). With the draft Action Plan as a working document for the process of long-range planning, key members of the CSG and the North American and European Cracid Taxon Advisory Groups (of AZA and EEP, respectively) met in the fall of 1994 to critically review the CSG Plan and to undertake the CAMP process.

This document is a result of the conservation workshops held at the Third International Cracidae Meeting, coupled with the data compiled at the first CAMP for the Cracidae. Held in Houston from 28 September - 3 October 1994, the meeting was sponsored by the Houston Zoological Gardens, the Zoological Society of Houston, Stichting Crax of Belgium, the Cracidae Specialist Group, and the North American Cracid TAG with support from White Oak Plantation. A total of 48 participants from 12 countries reviewed available data for the Cracidae and discussed the status of wild and captive populations of these species. Considerable emphasis was placed on in-situ programs, and the development of regional networks among Latin American researchers.

Plenary sessions in the meeting concerned updates on the status and biology of the Cracidae in the field, and on new techniques in their conservation. Highlights of the first day included:

• Educational programs to reduce poaching in Venezuelan National Parks (José Lorenzo Silva);
• Preliminary results from DNA phylogenetic studies (Patricia Escalante - Mexico);
• Detailed field studies of curassow life histories (Marcela Santamaría, Anna María Franco, Marisol Escaño - Colombia);
• Extensive surveys of Cracidae in Bolivia (Guy Cox), Venezuela (José Lorenzo Silva) and Costa Rica (Rodrigo Avila, Cecilia Pacheco);
• Successful reintroduction pilot studies for an endangered Brazilian curassow, Crax blumenbachii (Roberto Azeredo and James Simpson);
• Species accounts and conservation programs for xx Penelope albipennis (Victor Raúl Díaz, Gustavo del Solar), Oreophasis derbianus (Fernando Gonzalez-García, Santiago Billy) and others;
• Restoration ecology and translocations of Ortalis vetula in Texas (Gary Waggerman).

On the second and subsequent days, the participants broke up into working groups for MesoAmerica, Northern South America, Southwestern South America, and Brazil to discuss regional emphases for threatened species and conservation programs. The results of these sessions included estimates of status and threats affecting each subspecies of cracid, as well as recommendations for field and captive research. Regional groups met several times in plenary sessions to review common issues and to engage in discussions of species priorities and global concerns. The CAMP process was undertaken on the last two days of the meeting as a collaborative workshop between members of the CSG, the AZA Cracid TAG, the EEP TAG and facilitated by the Susie Ellis and Onnie Byers of the IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group.

The results of the meeting and the CAMP underline the need for further collaborative efforts to conserve guans, curassows and chachalacas. The deteriorating conservation status of several species, even during the brief six-year period since the last symposium, emphasized the need for immediate action. The participants reached consensus that efforts to conserve these species should focus on field programs, and that additional information on cracid ecology and ethnobiology are of vital importance. However, these studies should not be undertaken to the exclusion of captive management programs aimed at improving the condition of endangered species, particularly when such programs complement field initiatives. In addition to the growing expertise in husbandry techniques, reintroduction/translocation efforts for the Cracidae have been successfully implemented in several countries. These should become the focus of collaborative projects in coming years.

Summary of CAMP Recommendations

One hundred twenty-nine distinct Cracid taxa (subspecies or species if no subspecies are contained therein or regional populations of species or subspecies) were considered by the Cracid Conservation Assessment and Management Plan. Of the 129 taxa, 59 (46%) were assigned to one of three categories of threat, based on the draft IUCN Red List criteria:

Extinct in Wild 1 taxon

Critical 12 taxa

Endangered 15 taxa

Vulnerable 34 taxa

Low Risk 55 taxa

Data Deficient 5 taxa

Fourteen of the 129 taxa (11%) were recommended for Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshops. Tentative or "pending" PHVA workshops were recommended for 28 taxa (22%).

Recommendations for Research Management were made in the following categories:

Survey 89 taxa

Monitoring 94 taxa

Life history research 86 taxa

Limiting factors research 27 taxa

Limiting factors management 21 taxa

Habitat management 42 taxa

Taxonomic research 52 taxa

Translocation 10 taxa

Husbandry research 7 taxa

For many taxa, more than one type of research management was recommended. It was the consensus of the workshop participants that field investigations and management programs to aid conservation of cracid species in situ should be the highest priority among all activities recommended by the CAMP. We especially lack data from the field: surveys, ecological studies and applied investigations of cracid biology (including ethnobiological investigations of hunting and habitat modification pressures affecting guans, curassows and chachalacas) are of paramount importance. Monitoring of cracid populations is also a high priority, particularly when untertaken in conjunction with larger scale programs to monitor the status and ecological health of protected areas and other natural habitats.

Sixty-nine of the 129 Cracid taxa (53%) were recommended for one of three levels of captive programs (based in part on draft IUCN Red List criteria):

Level 1 32 taxa

Level 2 11 taxa

Level 3 25 taxa

Captive programs for 24 taxa were listed as "pending," meaning that recommendations for such would be postponed until further information was available, either from survey, a PHVA, or from sources which need to be queried. Thirty-four species/subspecies were identified as not requiring captive programs.

The participants in the Third Cracidae Symposium and the Camp meeting wish to emphasize that we do not view the recommendations of this document as "stand-alone" initiatives. Rather, the reader is encouraged to see these activities as components of the overall need for the conservation of Neotropical ecosystems. The Cracidae are excellent candidates (as bio-indicators, key species or flagships) to help facilitate larger-scale conservation programs. We therefore urge their inclusion in the planning stages of projects related to research, monitoring and management of Neotropical rainforests, protected areas and other natural ecosystems.

Stuart Strahl,

Cracid Specialist Group Chairman