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Blue Throated Macaws

Monday, August 02, 2010

As part of the traditional Bolivian Machetero dance, a headdress is worn which is intricately made up of macaw tail feathers.

10% of the feathers on the headdress are from Blue-throated Macaws.  These critically endangered birds are hunted for their feathers for this use.  Chester Zoo joined forces with the Blue-throated Macaw Conservation programme, headed by Armonía/BirdLife International, who ran workshops in the region teaching indigenous people how to make artificial feathers.  This project was a huge success, with orders already flying in for the production of alternative headdresses.

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