LARANA GIGANTE DEL TITICACA

The Titicaca giant frog has been in danger of extinction for more than
twenty years: eighty percent of the population of this species has been
lost. The contamination of is habitat in Peru and Bolivia is today the
main problem of the species.
Despite the fact that since the beginning of this year it entered the list
of species protected internationally by CITES, the consumption and
especially the contamination of Lago Titicaca aggravated the critical
danger of extinction due to the massive deaths of the last two years.
During the first decade of this century, this species was reduced by
forty percent. At that time, the giant frog was used in exotic dishes or
"medicinal" juices, a consumption that crossed the borders of Bolivia
and Peru, countries that share the highest lake in the world. But
Peruvian and Bolivian regulations prohibiting the removal of this giant
amphibian from its habitat have failed to stop its trade.
This year the efforts for its conservation went further, when the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) included it in its highest category, which means that
the giant Titicaca frog cannot be commercialized. and that the member
countries of this treaty are obliged to protect it.
 "The Andean Condor"
The Andean condor, also known as the condor of the hills,
condor of the Andes, or simply condor (Vultur gryphus) is a
species of bird in the family Cathartidae, inhabits the
mountains of the Andes and the adjacent Pacific coasts in
the west From South America. The Andean condor is the
world's largest flying bird by combined measure of weight
and wingspan. It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m and a
weight of 15 kg. It is generally considered to be the world's
largest bird of prey.

It is a large black bird with a ruff of white feathers around

the base of the neck and, especially in the male, large
white wing spots. The head and neck are nearly featherless
and a dull red, which can redden and thus change color in
response to the bird's emotional state. The male has a
wattle on the neck and a large dark red crest or caruncle
on the crown of the head. The female condor is smaller
than the male, an exception to the rule among birds of
prey.

The condor is primarily a scavenger bird, preferring large carcasses, such as deer or cattle. They feed
on the largest carcasses available, which may include llamas, alpacas, rheas, guanacos, deer, and
armadillos. Wild individuals could acquire additional carotenoids from plant matter contained in the
viscera of carcasses and fresh vegetation. However, most inland condors now live on much of
domestic animals, which are now more widespread in the Americas. South, such as cattle, horses,
donkeys, mules, sheep, domestic pigs, domestic goats, and dogs. They also feed on the carcasses of
introduced game species such as wild boar, rabbits, foxes and deer.

For the condors that live around the coast, the

diet consists mainly of stranded carcasses of
marine mammals, mostly cetaceans. They will
also raid the nests of smaller birds to feed on the
eggs. Andean condors have been observed
hunting some small, live animals such as
rodents, birds, and rabbits, which (given their
lack of powerful and grasping legs or a grasping
technique) developed hunting) generally kill by
repeatedly striking with their beak. It reaches sexual maturity at five or six years of age and nests at
elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 m a.s.l. no. m., generally in inaccessible rock formations. It has a
very low reproduction rate, they usually lay one or two eggs. It is one of the longest-lived birds in the
world, with a life expectancy of more than seventy years in some cases.

It is a national symbol of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, having an important
role in the folklore and mythology of the Andean regions of South America. The International Union
for Conservation of Nature classifies it as a vulnerable species, since it suffers from the loss of its
habitat and poisoning from the ingestion of intoxicated animals or from the poisoned baits
themselves illegally placed by hunters and ranchers.
However, the most pressing problem facing the condor is not due to its slow reproduction, but to the
actions of the human being who has persecuted them and destroyed their habitat for years. These are
the main human-related causes of the condor being endangered.

One of the main problems that the condor has faced comes from the hand of some farmers, who place
poisoned carrion because they consider that these birds pose a threat to their livestock. Likewise,
hunters constitute another sector that has systematically persecuted the condor, which meant that in
the 20th century its population was so diminished.

Finally, another of the factors that cannot be ignored is the destruction of their habitat due to
deforestation and urbanization of the land, which means that finding food is much more complicated,
which, at the same time, produces added difficulties for the survival of this South American bird.

As a summary, the main causes of the danger of extinction of the condor are:

• Low reproduction rate.

• Food poisoned by conflicts in livestock.
• Hunters.
• Habitat destruction.

The condor is a bird of the Peruvian Andes, we must take care of it since it is in danger of extinction.

¡NO TO THE HOUSE OF THE ANDEAN CONDOR!