A healthy population of condors should be made up of at least 600 reproductive pairs. In Ecuador there are 60.
An analysis by the Fundación Cóndor Andino Ecuador indicates that the Andean condor could disappear in 10 years.
The alert is given when comparing the statistics of the last national census of the Andean condor of Ecuador, carried out in 2018 with what has happened in the last two years.
In 2018, 150 specimens were counted in 138 geographical points; of this number approximately 60 would be reproductive pairs. But, according to Fabricio Narváez, the Foundation’s project coordinator, the amount released by the census is extremely small for the country.
“To give us an idea of how bad we are we have to consider that, according to population biologists, a healthy population of Andean condor should have 600 or 700 reproductive pairs,” he said.
With this background, Ecuador would be below the figures established to guarantee the conservation of this species for the next 100 years.
The expert commented that this species is threatened and that its population is in continuous decline.
Between December 2018 and December 2019 there were four poisoning murder events, for which 20 condors died. These events were recorded after the census.
If this dynamic continues, this bird considered a national emblem could disappear in 10 years and the main cause would be humans.
Although there is environmental legislation that criminalizes the killing of wild species, especially if they are in danger of extinction, it does not include mechanisms to find those who do harm.
To disseminate the preservation and protection of this and other species, the Andean Cóndor Foundation has generated a campaign with different educommunication tools to which other entities such as the Municipality of Quito have joined.
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