De rode ibis-moord in Frans-Guiana

The breeding population of the Scarlet Ibis in French Guiana (a bird species considered to be ’vulnerable’) dropped to zero in 1982, even though the habitat along the coast is favorable. Reasons for this seem to be human disturbance. To acquire information on hunting pressure and game legislation in French Guiana, we visited Sinnamary and Cayenne in January and April 1983. What we found was that a handwork industry has developed in Sinnamary making artifical ’flowers’ from bird feathers to be sold to tourists. Feathers of domestic birds as well as wild birds are used. However, more than 50% of the various types of ’flowers’ are made from Scarlet Ibis feathers. A large part of the economy of Sinnamary depends on this ’flower’ industry, and it is therefore unlikely that it can be stopped totally. When we visited Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, we found information on game legislation. The Scarlet Ibis is only partially protected. The open hunting season is from 1 December to 15 February. However, products of partially-protected animals can be sold all-year-round. Importantly, we learned that a proposal fot a new game legislation is being written. Since we had the impression that construction of ’flowers’ from Scarlet Ibis feathers is the prime reason for killing these birds, a solution could be sought in replacing the feathers with artificially- dyed domesticated-bird feathers. We obtained dyed feathers (from China) in Suriname which were almost identical in color to Scarlet Ibis feathers. Substitution with these feathers could be an important step towards total protection of the Scarlet Ibis in French Guiana.