TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE ANDEAN CONDOR (Vultur gryphus LINNAEUS, 1758) IN THE CENTRAL ANDES OF COLOMBIA

Juan Restrepo,Fausto Sáenz-Jiménez,Alan A Lieberman

doi:10.22276/ethnoscientia.v4i1.211

Abstract

Despite its cultural importance as a key component of the Andean landscape, some perceptions of rural inhabitants towards the Andean condor ( Vultur gryphus Linnaeus, 1758) persist, as they relate to the possible predation of domestic animals such as sheep and cattle. These perceptions are compounded by only a basic knowledge of the natural history of the species and have resulted in the historical persecution of the condors by the local peasant communities. We studied the variation of traditional knowledge about the Andean condor diet; comparing responses of adult women and adult men and adults and young people. We described the perceptions of rural farmers towards V. gryphus in Caldas and Tolima, Central Andes of Colombia. Adult men demonstrated a more detailed knowledge of the types of food of V. gryphus compared to adult women; but both adult men and women responded more accurately than both sexes of young people. Overall, the perceptions towards the condors were mostly positive. It is likely that the greater knowledge of adult men corresponds to the time they spend outdoors tending their crops and animals, while the younger generation receive their information through popular media, such as television, magazines and books, as well as educational materials. It is important to incorporate the gender perspective into conservation initiatives and educational programs to effectively protect the remaining endangered populations of condors in Colombia.

Highlights

It is estimated that the population of V. gryphus has approximately 122 individuals of which at least 32 are reintroduced, but there is only reproductive evidence of a pair from the population nuclei of the PNN Los Nevados (ZULUAGA, 2010; ARANGO et al, 2016; RESTREPO-CARDONA et al, 2018)
In the buffer zone of the PNN Los Nevados in Caldas and Tolima, adults mentioned that pastures on farms (46%) and rocky escarpments in mountains (43%) are the sites where condors have been observed most often, followed by crop fields (7%), forests (2%) and photos in magazines and books (2%)
In the case of young people, they mentioned the rocky escarpments in the mountains (32%) and the pastures on the farms (29%) as the sites where they have most often observed V. gryphus, and mentioned television (23%) and photos in magazines, books, and educational materials (16%)

Summary

Introduction

Avian scavengers have become important elements in the worldview of many different cultures (PALMA, 1982; IBARRA et al, 2012; PFEIFFER et al, 2015). The distribution of the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus Linnaeus, 1758) extends from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, southward along the Andean chain from Venezuela to Argentina and Chile (FERGUSON-LEES and CHRISTIE, 2001; LAMBERTUCCI, 2007). In Colombia, its historical distribution included the three Andean mountain ranges, the Serrania del Perijá and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (RODRÍGUEZ et al, 2006). Sixty-nine captive-reared condors, originating from United States and Colombian zoos, were released in eight population nuclei within the historical range of the condor (LIEBERMAN et al, 1993; RODRÍGUEZ et al, 2006; RESTREPO-CARDONA et al, 2018). Due to its current low numbers and limited distribution in Colombia, the species is listed as Critically Endangered locally (ARANGO et al, 2016; RENJIFO et al, 2016) and Near Threatened globally (BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL, 2019)

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