11 November, 2024
Estefania Parra Ochoa, 2024 Oscar Beingolea Raptor Research Grant winner. Photo courtesy of Estefania Parra Ochoa.
IBCP is delighted to join the Raptor Research Foundation in congratulating Estefania Parra Ochoa on winning the 2024 Oscar Beingolea Raptor Research Grant! Beingolea Grants are awarded every autumn by the Raptor Research Foundation following an annual competition for projects advancing raptor research and/or conservation in Latin America. This year’s winner, Estefania Parra Ochoa, will investigate evidence of exposure of anticoagulant rodenticides in birds of prey from urban and peri-urban areas of Medellín-Antioquia, Colombia. The extensive use of poisons for pest control presents an ecological threat to raptors due to the unintended consequences of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). The persistence and accumulation of pesticides in the environment and animal tissues leads to secondary exposure and poisoning of predators and scavengers. However, little is known about AR exposure and toxicosis in Neotropical raptors, which are vulnerable to lethal and sublethal effects affecting individual fitness and population success.
Striped Owl. Photo by Chris Jimenez from CR, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Estefania and her team will investigate exposure evidence of ARs in raptors from urban and peri-urban areas of the metropolitan area of Aburrá valley, especially those that prey mostly on rodents, like the Striped Owl (Asio clamator), and in scavenger or opportunistic species like the Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) and Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima). She will specifically investigate correlations between clinical findings (ante or postmortem) and the evidence of ARs exposure in the liver. Results of this study would be the first evidence of exposure and toxicosis due to ARs in wild populations of Neotropical birds of prey, and would act as a baseline study in Colombia and Latin America. Findings would also inform policy makers regarding the use and regulations of ARs, which are essential to develop effective conservation strategies for raptors and ecological health in Latin America. We offer our warm congratulations and best wishes for a successful project!
Yellow-headed Caracara. Photo by Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.