This bird’s protectors are its former hunters: ‘It was my turn to help them’

The scarlet macaw population in Central America’s largest wilderness area had dwindled drastically. The Indigenous Miskito people stepped in to help save them.

A scarlet macaw perches on a tree branch at sunrise with the full moon in the background in La Mosquitia, Honduras. The region is home to the largest wilderness area in Central America and is the only place in the country where these birds fly freely. The national bird of Honduras had been at risk of extinction but the population has rebounded thanks to conservation efforts supported by the Indigenous Miskito people.

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