Seven Caribbean flamingos were rescued from Flamingo Jungle in Cabarete, Puerto Plata. The flamingos were clandestinely kept. The Ministry of Environment’s Rosado Rescue Project says legal actions will be taken against the accommodation that was marketed through Airbnb.
The Ministry of Environment (MMARN) and its Specialized Attorney for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources (Proedemaren) seized the flamingos together when the representatives of the tourist accommodation refused to voluntarily hand over the birds to the Rescate Rosado project.
Technicians Luis Aníbal José Amparo and Indira Sanchez, inspectors from the Department of Wildlife Regulation and Control of the Biodiversity Department, rescued the birds.
The rescue operation was led by prosecutor Domingo Belliard, attached to Proedemaren, who also had the support of agents from the National Environmental Protection Service (Senpa). The birds will undergo a recovery and readaptation process before they are released to the wild.
The technicians from the Ministry of the Environment who participated in the rescue of the seven flamingos emphasized that buying or selling these birds is an environmental crime.
The Rescate Rosado project, a conservation strategy for the Caribbean flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), addresses the situation of loss of habitat and nesting, as well as the threat of illegal capture of birds to exhibit them in tourist establishments or on private farms.
The migratory species, which forms unique pairs, is in a vulnerable position on the local and general conservation red lists.
The MMARN carries out the Rescate Rosado project together with the National Zoological Park and in collaboration with the Ecological Action Group, whose technicians have already carried out several flamingo releases.
The comprehensive program to conserve flamingos promotes research, management of the species and raising public awareness. Many tourist establishments are joining the initiative by voluntarily handing over captive birds.
The project includes the removal of flamingos from hotels or places where they are held in captivity. The birds undergo a quarantine process at the National Zoo and then are released into an area of natural distribution of the species.
The project also seeks to guarantee the management and protection of this species, carrying out training for important actors in making decisions that contribute to the stability of the flamingo population in the Dominican Republic.
Flamingos can be seen in all their splendor in Enriquillo Lake in the southwest.
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Ministry of Environment
15 January 2024