The Restoration of Species

Our planet is currently experiencing one of the most important mass extinctions of its history. Behind this crisis are the activities and impact to which we, the human species, have subjected animals, plants and their ecosystems.

Fortunately, the Natural Reserve Iberá still serves as a refuge for various species of wildlife that are locally and/or globally threatened. In the forests and grassland of the region, one can find uncommon birds such as the saffron-cowled blackbird (Xanthopsar flavus), the black and white monjita (Xolmis dominicanus), seedeaters (spp. Sporophila), the strange-tailed tyrant (Alectrurus risora), the yellow cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata), and the crowned eagle (Harpyhaliaetus coronatus). Additionally, the grasslands and forests of Iberá houses threatened mammals such as the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus). Also, in the lagoons and swamps, populations of important species such as the jabiru (Jabiru mycteria), the marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), and the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) can be found.

The strange-tailed tyrant

 

Yellow cardinal

Unfortunately, various species of wildlife were eliminated from the region during the second half of the twentith century. Among theses animals are the jaguar (Panthera onca), the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), the south american tapir (Tapirus terrestris), and the glaucous macaw (Anodorrhynchus glaucus). Although few pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) still remain in the Northeast region of Iberá, it has completely disappeared from the rest of Iberá and the Province of Corrientes.

Jabirú

 

Marsh deer

Our ultimate goal is to assure the existence of these species by promoting their recuperation in numbers and by encouraging their return to areas that they formerly inhabited. We developed the “Threatened Wildlife Recuperation Project” to achieve this feat.

Management and follow-up of threatened species that still exist within the reserve

To promote the recovery of animal species that are considered threatened (regionally or globally) but that nonetheless still inhabit Iberá, we manage our reserves within Iberá as refuges and optimal habitats for their reproduction. As we create these “natural refuges,” we also develop studies, census, and follow-ups of endangered species to evaluate and improve our politics of management for the conservation of the species. These studies have allowed us to prove the population recovery of notable species such as the marsh deer, the maned wolf, the puma, the strange-tailed tyrant, and the crowned solitary eagle.

Reintroduction of extinct mammals in the reserve

In the case of animals that have been extripated within Iberá, we are developing projects dedicated to returning them to the region. This requires the development of an initiative, the most ambitious one in Latin America. To fulfill this goal, we have begun and are beginning projects focused on the reintroduction of the giant anteaer, the pampas deer, the collared peccary, and the great predator of the region, the jaguar.

Giant otter, extinct in the region