IBERÁ PROJECT

The giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is the largest species of otter in the world, and can reach up to 1.8 meters in length. It was the apex predator in the aquatic ecosystems of Corrientes, preying on fish and caiman. Up until the middle of the twentieth century it was possible to see them in the Paraná River, not far from the capitol of the province, and its past presence in Iberá was confirmed when a giant otter skull was found on one of the islands in the esteros. This spectacular mammal is extinct in Corrientes and in all of Argentina.

The major part of the diet of a giant river otter is composed of fishes, although it can also include crustaceans, mollusks, and terrestrial vertebrates like sub-adult caiman, birds and rodents. Because of its eating habits, this carnivore is usually at the top of the food chain in the waterways where it lives and is a key species in those ecosystems.

The absence of apex predators in Iberá such as the jaguar and the giant river otter has resulted in an imbalance in the ecosystem, due to the loss of their important roles as regulators of prey populations. The restoration of a top predator to an ecosystem will bring ecological benefits, and in addition, the reintroduction of the giant river otter will be another important resource for nature-based tourism activities.

The giant river otter is, according the IUCN, catalogued as internationally endangered, critically endangered in the majority of countries in its range of distribution and is considered to probably be extinct in all of Argentina. The Argentinean Society for the Study of Mammals considers it to be at Critical Risk of Extinction and notes that there have been no records of a stable population or individual adults with established territories in Argentina for the last thirty years at least. It is likely that a combination of factors, including the modification of habitat, contamination of waters, poaching and human conflicts have resulted in the shrinking of populations of giant otters in Argentina.

In the past the distribution of the species was very broad, reaching from Guyana, Venezuela and Colombia up to the north of Argentina and Uruguay and eastern zones of the Andes. Now, the major part of the populations of giant river otters are discontinuously distributed in the Pantanal and Brazilian Amazon and in the regions immediately adjacent to these areas, as well as in French Guyana, Surinam and Guyana. The species is also present in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia.

In Argentina, the giant river otter inhabited the watershed of the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, including the Iberá Wetlands. It also extended into the Chaco region via rivers like the Bermejo, reaching east as far as Jujuy. The last record of the species in the country date back more than two decades, and were made in the watershed of the Iguazú, Paraná, and Urugua-í rivers in the province of Misiones, with the only recent sightings made in 2010, in the upper Iguazú River, in the zone of the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s throat).

In the province of Corrientes, the otter was principally recorded along the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers (including sightings from 1993 and on). There are also unconfirmed sightings in the departments of Ituzaingó and Paso de los Libres. In the Esteros del Iberá, which is connected to the Paraná River by the Corrientes River and with the Uruguay River via the Miriñay River, the most noted record of the species is a skull that was found in the Fernández Lake. There are also stories about the presence of giant otters in the area of Rincón del Diablo, Capitá Miní, Yahaveré, Itatí Rincón Lake, Misteriosa Lake, Sánchez Arroyo (a few kilometers to the north of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini) and in the Miriñay wetlands to the west of Tapebicuá.

· In 2019, Alondra, the first female giant river otter to be part of the Project, arrived in Corrientes. She was donated by the Budapest Zoo, and after successfully passing the quarantine period at the installations in San Cayetano, the female was transported to a pre-release enclosure on the island of San Alonso in Iberá Park. This enclosure is 20 x 40 meters and was specially designed to house individuals of this species. It is located on the edge of the Paraná Lake and contains both a watery environment and higher ground with trees and vegetation.  

· At the end of 2019, Coco, a male donated by the Givskud Zoo of Denmark, became part of the Project. After completing the quarantine phase, he was brought to San Alonso Island at the beginning of 2020, where he shares a pre-release enclosure with Alondra. There, they are daily provided with live fish native to Iberá to practice their fishing skills.

· On May 2021, Coco and Alondra produced three healthy giant river otter pups. They form the first family of the species in Argentina after 40 years. We expect the family to be released as soon as they produce a second litter.

· Also, on May 2021, a male giant river otter named Nanay joined the Project. He was donated by Eskilstuna Parken Zoo, Sweden. After completing the quarantine period in Corrientes, Nanay traveled to San Alonso Island, where he remains in a pre-release pen similar to Alondra and Coco’s, with both a terrestrial and an aquatic area, on the edge of the Parana Lake.

· On January 2022, a female named Ariranha coming from France joined the reintroduction project. She completed her quarantine period successfully before being transported to the same pre-release pen where Nanay lives. Their encounter was positive, and we expect they form the second family nucleus of giant river otters in Iberá Park. 

This Project receives support from the National Geographic Society.

The giant anteater or yurumí (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) has an elongated, toothless snout with a long tongue with which it eats ants and termites. These mammals, which were exterminated in the province of Corrientes in the middle of the twentieth century, can reach up to 2 meters in length and can weigh up to 50 kilos.

This was the first species that we worked with as we began our program of Rewilding Iberá. In 2007, the first pair of giant anteaters was released in the Rincón del Socorro Reserve, where there is now an ample and self-sustaining population. After years of work, in addition to the population in Socorro, another group has already been established in San Alonso and there are nuclei of populations that have been started in the Carambola, San Nicolás and Estancia Don Pablo sectors, the last of which is outside of Iberá Park. The majority of the animals which have been freed were orphaned cubs who were rescued in other provinces in the north of the country after their mothers were killed by poachers.

Since the project began in 2007, our team rescued more than 130 orphan giant anteaters from different provinces in northern Argentina. As of 2021, more than 200 individuals constitute this species’ populations in Iberá, including anteaters that dispersed and established miles away from the reserves.

The pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) is an herbivore that once was very abundant across the grasslands of Argentina. Due to over-hunting, the destruction of its habitat and the introduction of disease by domestic cattle, there has been an alarming decrease in numbers of this species.

Currently, there are only four isolated populations of this deer that have survived, composed of only around 2000 individuals in all of the country. Corrientes still has one of these populations living on private land near the marshlands of Aguapey. In 2009, our foundation started a new population in Iberá Park, on the island of San Alonso. Today, this population, which was founded with 22 animals translocated from Aguapey, has from 120-150 individuals. In addition, a second population nucleus was started in the Rincón del Socorro Reserve and is already self-sustaining.

The deer that were reintroduced to Iberá now make up the fifth population group of this species in the country, the third most numerous and the largest that is sheltered in a protected area.

Up until the beginning of the twentieth century, the pampas deer was one of the most abundant and iconic animals of the natural grasslands (pampas) of north and central Argentina. The chronicles from 1800 describe thousands upon thousands of these deer in the extensive Argentine pampas, but the precipitous process of transformation of their natural habitat into grazing lands for cattle and into agriculture land left them with practically no place left to live.

There now remain only about 2000 individuals left, divided into four isolated, relic populations in the provinces of Buenos Aires, San Luis, Corrientes and Santa Fe. The population of deer in Corrientes is the largest in the country of the subspecies O. b. leucogaster, of which there are only a few individuals in Santa Fe and none the other two provinces. In order to recognize the importance of this species, Corrientes declared the Pampas deer a Natural Monument for the province which means that the animals and their habitat should both be protected.

Studies of the Pampas deer in Corrientes show a limited distribution in grasslands located between sandy hill regions on the border of the Esteros del Iberá and the marshlands of Aguapey. The problem with this region is that it is slated for industrial forestry development and is as an area of priority for the establishment of exotic pine plantations, which will cause the habitat of the deer to disappear rapidly. In other cases, the presence of dogs and high density of cattle could scare away the deer from the area. To these issues is added the problem of poaching, which is still goes on in the region.

If these processes continue to advance at the same rate as they have in the last years, it could lead to the complete extinction of the species from the region of Aguapey. It would not be the first time that such an event has happened in the Province: At the end of the last century, a population of pampas deer that inhabited an area near Concepción del Yaguaraté Corá went extinct, due to the development of pine and eucalyptus plantations. 

The objectives, actions, methodologies and durations related to the recovery of this species are detailed in the document “The project for the Conservation, Rescue and Restoration of Pampas Deer in the Province of Corrientes” (see document), which was developed by CLT Argentina (Rewilding Argentina) and our Foundation in collaboration with and authorized by the Directorate of Natural Resources of Corrientes.

One of the big milestones of the project was the purchase by our Foundation of a property of 535 hectares to create the Guasutí Ñu (Land of Deer in Guarani language) Reserve. This will be the first protected area principally dedicated to the conservation of pampas deer in the region of Aguapey.

In 2009, a team of veterinarians and biologists from Argentina and Brazil carried out the first capture and translocation of pampas deer in Corrientes. This was done to reintroduce a population of the species in the San Alonso Reserve, a property of Rewilding Argentina located within the Natural Iberá Reserve which has 10,000 hectares of high-quality native grassland. This group of deer is the fifth population of this species in the country and its establishment will increase by four times the reserve area that is strictly dedicated to the conservation of pampas deer in Argentina. In 2015 the creation of a second population in the Rincón del Socorro Reserve, next to the town of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini. 

The collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) a close relative of pigs, lives in small groups of 5-15 individuals and feeds principally on fruits and roots, although it also eats worms, insects and small vertebrates, and the species fulfills an important role in the dispersion of fruits and seeds of native plants. It was killed off in broad swaths in the north and central parts of the country, including in the province of Corrientes. There are now a number of re-introduced populations of this gregarious mammal within Iberá Park — in Rincón del Socorro, San Alonso, Carambola y San Nicolás.

Our team has released collared peccaries donated by institutions from Buenos Aires, Tucumán, Salta, La Rioja, Córdoba, and Mendoza provinces in Rincón del Socorro Reserve since 2015 and in San Alonso Island since 2017, where the animals formed self-sustainable populations. Two new nuclei were started in 2018 in San Nicolás and Carambola Reserves, where we will continue to release animals.

The collared peccary or morito is a tayassuido (of the family that includes the wild pigs or boars of the Americas) with a broad range which can be found from the southern USA to central Argentina. It is an adaptable mammal that inhabits deserts, dry forests, and humid rainforests environments ranging from sea level up to 2400 meters. Although it does frequent open grasslands, it seems to need a certain amount of forest or shrub cover, which serve as both protection and source of food.  The peccary’s diet is broad and diverse, made up of fruits, leaves, tubers, and, in smaller amounts, other animals.

The collared peccary has shown an important capacity to adapt to the presence of humans and the resulting transformation of natural ecosystems. For example, in the United States, it is not rare to see them in the center of cities and suburbs. Like other peccaries, the collared peccary is a sociable animal that lives in groups that vary from two to thirty individuals. The size of a group’s territory ranges from 24-800 hectares. 

The species is considered to be extinct in Corrientes, Entre Ríos, a large part of Santa Fe, the south of Córdoba and the southeast of Santiago del Estero, while it is relatively abundant in some parts of Santa Fe, the center north of Misiones, Chaco, Formosa, Tucumán, the north of Santiago del Estero, the east of Jujuy, Salta, the southeast of Catamarca, the south of La Rioja, the east of San Juan, the west and north of Cordóba, San Luis and the northeast of Mendoza.

In the region of Iberá, there are records of its historical presence in the islands of forest of Puerto Valle (to the northeast of the Iberá Natural Reserve) where it disappeared, mostly due to hunting and deforestation, in the middle of the twentieth century. The French explorer D’Orbigny noted that the species was common in the forests of Corrientes province up to 1820.  

In summary: the collared peccary is a highly adaptable mammal that lives in groups of varied size, which require a territory from tens to a few hundred hectares in ecosystems that have some forest cover. In Argentina, there are still abundant and healthy populations of this species, although it has disappeared from many regions, including from the province of Corrientes.

The Red-and-green macaw (Ara chloropterus) is a large, spectacular bird that used to inhabit the forests in the northeast of Argentina, including the gallery forests of the Paraná River and zones surrounding north and central Iberá Park. Its presence in Corrientes has been recorded by a variety of explorers but it is now is extinct in all of Argentina. It is a fruit-eating bird, and plays an important role in the healthy functioning of Corrientinian forests by dispersing fruits and large seeds of a number of native tree species. In addition, its large size and bright colors make it a great tourist attraction.  

There is now an initial population nucleus made up of a number of reintroduced macaws in the Cambyretá section in the north of Iberá Park, which is the first time that a bird which is extinct in Argentina has been returned to the country. These birds come from captivity and had to undergo an extensive training phase prior to release, in which they were prepared to fly long distances and to recognize native fruits. 

Because of its spectacular plumage, the macaws have been persecuted by humans throughout history. In Corrientes, there was at least two species of these large birds:  the violet macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus) or “guaá-hovy’’ which is completely extinct worldwide, and the green-winged macaw (Ara chloropterus) or “guaá-pytá” which has disappeared from the province and from the rest of Argentina.

The macaws lived in forest “islands”, in stands of palms and in the gallery forests of Corrientes and other provinces like Formosa, Chaco, Santa Fe, Misiones and Entre Ríos. Today, the population of macaws that is closest to Corrientes is found more than 300 kilometers to the north in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná in Brazil, in the extreme north of Paraguay and the southeast of Bolivia and none of these groups is adequately protected.

Some of the few records made of the Green-winged macaw in our country came from Alcides D’Orbigny (1945) who in 1827 captured one in his travels through Corrientes, more specifically at Ita Ibatá during his navigation of the Paraná River. Earlier, Félix de Azara (1809) recounted that between 1781 and 1801 the species lived in the surroundings of the city of Asunción and in all of the south of Paraguay in Ñeembucú, noting that the north of Argentina up to 28 degrees of latitude was the species distribution range in the country. Sánchez Labrador also mentions its presence in the south of Paraguay.

In 1881, the commander Fontana recorded the macaw in the Chaco region, as did Enrique Lynch Arribalzaga in 1920, in his publication “The Birds of Chaco”. In 1895, Eduardo Holmber also commented that he “brought a number from Paraguay; I remember having seen them in Chaco; but Gonzalez brought two from Pilcomayo.” In June of 1891, Bertoni (1901) wrote that he had captured a macaw in the upper Paraná in the following manner: “I killed it when it was eating fruits of the Esenbeckia guatambu, with three individuals of the same size (..) I often saw the species crossing the Paraná River, it appears that it sleeps on the Argentine coast and then crosses daily to eat along the Paraguay side.” This last note corresponds to a place on the Argentine side of the Paraná River in the northeast of Misiones. There are also records of the macaw in 1883 from Santa Ana, in the department of Candelaria, Misiones Province, up until about 1917 when the last wild macaws in Argentina were hunted and killed in the province of Formosa (Chebez 2008).

The scenario that these historical records show is of a species that thrived in the forests of the region, and they also demonstrate that the species of trees needed for feeding and nesting were abundant, like the timbó and mbocayá palm, among others. It is also notable, however, that the majority of the commentary of these naturalists are about the use of the macaws as food, as pets and gifts. Considering that their comments coincide with the population boom in the region between Asunción and Corrientes and the large-scale cattle industry that developed from 1700-1800, it is easy to understand why this species was strongly affected by human activity, up to its extinction.

To have some idea of the impact of human activity in the northeast region of Corrientes, one should consider that the number of cattle from that period is equal to the total heads of cattle that we find today in the province. Added to this, it has been noted the negative impact of the wars and soldiers that ravaged the north of Corrientes during these years.

The Iberá Natural Reserve presents a nearly singular opportunity to restore the presence of this authentic “jewel of the air” in our country. Currently, the reserve has a large expanse of protected habitat with sufficient forest patches or “islands,” which will sustain a stable population of Red-and-green macaws, both within the Provincial Park’s public property and in private nature reserves. In addition, in Iberá, a group of institutions and experts have the experience of restoring populations of extinct or endangered species, like the giant anteater, the pampas deer, and the collared peccary.

The reasons to recuperate the red-and-green macaw include its role in the proper functioning of forest patches by controlling the dispersal of fruits and large seeds of native trees. It would also mean the recovery of a species extinct in Argentina and the conservation of a wild population at the southern end of its geographic range. Moreover, as one of the most spectacular birds of the Americas, it will be a first-class tourist attraction and contribute to local communities development. Finally, it will also restore a cultural value to Correntinos and will again be represented in artistic expressions and stories, like in the paintings in the dome of the emblematic Vera Theater in Corrientes.

The Red-and-green macaws in our project come from a captive life in a variety of zoos and breeding centers throughout the country. These animals are transported to the Aguará Center of Rewilding in the province of Corrientes, where they form groups of individuals and where they undergo a series of health examinations that are necessary to ensure that they do not pass any disease into the wild environment upon their release. When the health exams are successfully passed, the macaws begin intensive flight training in order to develop their flight abilities and flight muscles. From the moment they arrive at the center, they also receive native fruits so that they will be able to recognize them as a source of food once they are freed.

Before being transported to the place where they will be freed, a small radio transmitter is attached to each macaw which allows the team to follow each bird once they are released. They are then moved to the Cambyretá sector of the reserve, at the northern entrance to the Esteros del Iberá located to the south of Ituzaingó and Villa Olivari. There, the macaws are housed in small mobile cages located in the interior of different forest patches for several days, in order that they can become used to their new surroundings. These cages are opened progressively more and more often, and feeding platforms are located in nearby trees so that the birds can begin to explore the environment. These feeding platforms are moved farther and farther from the cage, so as to increase the distance that the bird needs to fly and the opportunity to explore, up until the time of complete independence. After being freed, and as they are amplifying their area of activity, the macaws are monitored by project staff in order to evaluate their adaption to the natural environment, their reproduction status and their survival in the long term. There are also artificial nest boxes located in different tall trees in the forest that breeding pairs can use to nest until they learn how to find natural cavities in the trees and palms of the area.

· In 2019, two couples established in Cambyretá and began using box-nests in different spots of the forest, where they laid eggs. These are the first reproductive events recorded in the Project. Although the inexperienced parents smashed the eggs days later, we confirmed these were fertile. It is common for first-time parents to fail in their initial lay attempts.

· In September 2020, one of the couples laid three eggs, which hatched one month later. Red-and-green macaws rarely succeed in raising more than one chick. On this occasion, they successfully bred two of them. Our team confirmed they were two females and aided their parents in feeding the chicks during the initial months.

· In January 2021, the chicks made their first flight attempts. Ninety-one days after their birth, the eldest sister left the nest and flew over 500 meters. She spent the following nights out of the nest. She flew along with her dad several kilometers to a forest nearby. Five days later, the younger sibling joined the flights.

The bare-faced curassow, (Crax fasciolata), known in Argentina as the muitú, is largest of the galliforme birds in Argentina. It inhabits the northeast of our country, but because of extensive hunting for its meat and the destruction of the forests where it once lived, it has disappeared from the provinces of Santa Fe, Corrientes and Misiones and only subsists in low numbers in small parts in the east of Chaco and Formosa. It is a big consumer and disperser of fruits and seeds, thereby assisting the regeneration of the forests in which it lives. We are currently in the initial phase of a project to reintroduce the species in Iberá Park. 

The red-legged seriema (Seriema cristata) is a largely terrestrial, walking bird inhabiting open sectors of the Chaco and espinal regions. It consumes worms, spiders, insects and small vertabrates like lizards, snakes and rodents, helping control these populations. The red-legged seriema disappeared from broad sections of the north of the country, including the province of Corrientes, where it once lived in the southeastern corner. In the Rincón del Socorro Reserve (within Iberá Park) an experimental project to reintroduce this species began in 2018.

Iberá is brilliant water, blue skies, endless plains, plentiful wildlife and magical sunsets. It is as surprising in its potential for the viewing of large mammals as Africa, and as traditional as mate and the Correntino chamamé.

Since 2005 we have been promoting the creation of the tourist destination of “Iberá”. Its “scenic route” covers more than 1000 kilometers, passing through seven communities surrounding the park and ten entrances or gateways, with public access created for the enjoyment of the experience of “rewilding”. 

Thanks to the work we have done jointly with the national and provincial governments, municipal authorities, NGO’s and to press publicity, Iberá is now positioned as one of the principle nature destinations in Argentina, and tourism is already an economic engine for local development.

After more than 20 years of joint work with community and political leaders, we have managed to construct a common vision, shared by the provincial and municipal governments, of the economic potential of nature tourism, which, in many places, is becoming an engine of local economic development.

This is the result of intense work in the region of the project’s influence that has fortified the environment and tourism sectors within public institutions. This has permitted the development of proposals for better agricultural practices, and, through long-term communication campaigns, has increased the value placed on the natural and cultural heritage of the eco-region.

With the goal of mitigating negative environmental impacts, we have worked with the towns and villages in the region to resolve urban planning issues and have collaborated in the development of public infrastructure, informational signs and improvement of urban centers in order to increase opportunities for recreation and tourism.

In addition, we have joined with our rural neighbors to legalize their land tenure so that they can receive titles to their property and to help them access basic utilities like energy and water. Additionally, we provide trainings to those who want to start businesses within the tourism sector.