Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was once widespread across the Amazon basin. High hunting pressure has been causing drastic declines, so that the population is now very small and restricted to scattered, isolated subpopulations. These declines are ongoing and it is therefore listed as Endangered.
Population justification
National population estimates include 200 individuals on isla Mocagua and 200-250 individuals on islands in río Caquetá in Colombia (Renjifo et al. 2014), less than 1,000 individuals in Brazil (ICMBio 2018), less than 130 individuals in Bolivia (Armonía Bolivia 2022), and 250-500 individuals in Peru (SERFOR 2018). This equates to up to 1,780-2,080 individuals across the range, which is equivalent to roughly 1,180-1,380 mature individuals.
In its presumed stronghold near the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in Brazil, densities of c. 0.6 individuals/km2 could be observed (Begazo and Valqui 1998, ICMBio 2018). Under the assumption that this density is representative for the global range, and further assuming that 50% of the mapped range is occupied to account for its strict habitat requirements (i.e. c.4,000 km2), an extrapolation across the range results in a population of 2,400 individuals. This roughly equates to 1,600 mature individuals. To account for uncertainty and the differences in the above methods of estimating the global population, it is here placed in the band 1,000-2,499 mature individuals.
A population genetic study of the population along the Peruvian-Colombian border found significant genetic structuring across a small area, suggesting reduced movement and gene flow and thus the existence of several very small subpopulations (Alvarez-Prada and Ruiz-García 2015).
Trend justification
Formerly widespread across a large area, this species has declined dramatically, mainly as a consequence of hunting and habitat loss, and is now restricted to scattered, disjunct localities. In parts of the range it has reportedly suffered local extinctions (del Hoyo et al. 2020).
While declines have certainly been drastic in the past, the population now shows signs of recovery locally in areas where hunting pressure has been greatly reduced through awareness and education campaigns, e.g. in Bolivia (Hennessey 1999, Armonía Bolivia 2022). Hunting is however ongoing in other areas and likely causing an ongoing population decline (Renjifo et al. 2014, ICMBio 2018, SERFOR 2018). Habitat loss and degradation may further aggravate the population decline; however, tree cover loss within the known range is low (2% over the past 20 years; Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). The current impact of these threats on the population size is not known, and as such the overall rate of population decline is unquantified.
Crax globulosa was formerly widespread in upper Amazonia (west Brazil, south Colombia, east Ecuador, east Peru and north Bolivia), but is now restricted to a small number of scattered, disjunct localities within its range.
In Colombia is is known from two sites at Isla Mocagua on the río Amazonas and on some islands in the río Caquetá near the Brazilian border (Renjifo et al. 2014). It was reportedly fairly common on the río Apaporis near Chiriquibete National Park (J. Estudillo López verbally 1994), but recent surveys have not found the species (P. von Hildebrand verbally 1999). It is moreover recorded near the confluence of the ríos Javarí and Amazonas in Peru and Brazil. In Peru, it further occurs along the Amazonas near Iquitos, as well as on the ríos Marañón and Ucayali (SERFOR 2018). In Brazil it is recorded near the ríos Solimões, Juruá, Purus and Javari, with no recent records from río Madeira (ICMBio 2018). In Bolivia the only known population is along a tributary of the río Beni, where it has been in decline since the 1940s but persists in the Takana III Indigenous Territory (Armonía Bolivia 2022). Its range has contracted greatly, and it has probably been extirpated from Ecuador, where it was last recorded in 1982 (Freile et al. 2019, del Hoyo et al. 2020).
It inhabits lowland, riverine, humid forest and várzea. Studies indicate that this species is closely linked to water; individuals are rarely ever found more than 250-300 m from the edge of rivers or lakes (R. MacLeod in litt. 2007, 2010; Hill et al. 2008, Luna-Maira et al. 2013). It forages in small groups on inundated ground for small fish, insects, aquatic crustaceans and other small animals, or in the canopy and subcanopy layer for fruit (Hennessey 1999, Bennett 2000, del Hoyo et al. 2020).
The main threat to this species is hunting, whether commercial, for subsistence or by loggers (Santos 1997-1998, Hennessey 1999, Renjifo et al. 2014). It appears more vulnerable to hunting than other cracids as it is restricted to water edge habitats that are easily reached by the human population who use rivers for transport (R. MacLeod in litt. 2007, 2010). On the río Beni (Bolivia), it was heavily hunted by fur traders during the 1960s, but the prohibition of fur-hunting by CITES in 1971 slowed declines (Hennessey 1999). A further threat is the loss and degradation of its riverine forest and várzea habitat, as these areas are of high value for subsistence agriculture and cultivations (Renjifo et al. 2014, del Hoyo et al. 2020).
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES III in Colombia. It is listed as Endangered at the national level in Colombia (Renjifo et al. 2014) and Brazil (ICMBio 2018), as Critically Endangered in Bolivia (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Agua 2009) and Peru (SERFOR 2018) and as Possibly Extinct in Ecuador (Freile et al. 2019). It occurs in a small number protected areas throughout its range, including the Mamirauá, Amanã and Uacari Sustainable Development Reserves, Brazil (IMCBio 2018), Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru (Begazo and Valqui 1998), and Takana III Indigenous Reserve, Bolivia (Armonía Bolivia 2022). In Bolivia, a temporary hunting ban to secure the future of local hunting stocks has reportedly contributed to population recovery (Hennessey 1999). Moreover, awareness campaigns among local communities in Bolivia and Colombia have greatly reduced hunting pressure and logging activities in areas where the species occurs (Renjifo et al. 2014, Armonía Bolivia 2022). Armonía Bolivia is further working on building capacity among local communities to provide alternative livelihoods and establish a community-based ecotourism project, among others (Armonía Bolivia 2022). A number of captive breeding birds exist in zoos (Brooks and Strahl 2000).
82-89 cm. Large, mainly black, terrestrial cracid. Male black, with curled crest feathers and white vent. Black bill with reddish (sometimes yellowish) cere, bill knob and hanging wattle. Black legs. Female black with rufous vent. Black bill and red cere. Similar spp. Only curassow with red bill wattles and white undertail in range. Voice High, descending whistle wheeeeeeeee. Hints Known to concentrate around water-bodies.
Text account compilers
Hermes, C.
Contributors
Angulo Pratolongo, F., Bennett, S., Bennun, L., Benstead, P., Calvert, R., Develey, P., Estudillo López, J., Hennessey, A.B., Keane, A., MacLeod, R., Olmos, F., Salaman, P.G.W., Sharpe, C.J., Silveira, L.F., Symes, A., Temple, H., Whitney, B., Whittaker, A. & von Hildebrand, P.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Wattled Curassow Crax globulosa. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/wattled-curassow-crax-globulosa on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.