Zapata Rail
Encyclopedia
The Zapata Rail is a 29 cm (11.4 in) long, dark-coloured rail
, the only member of the monotypic genus Cyanolimnas. It has brown upperparts, greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill
, white undertail covert
s, and red eyes and legs. Its short wings render it almost flightless. It is endemic
to the wetlands of the Zapata Peninsula
in southern Cuba
, where its only known nest was found in sawgrass
tussocks
. Little is known of its diet or reproductive behaviour, and its described calls may belong to a different species.
The Zapata Rail was discovered by Spanish zoologist Fermín Zanón Cervera
in March 1927 in the Zapata Swamp
near Santo Tomás, in the southern Matanzas Province
of Cuba. The swamp holds one other bird found nowhere else, the Zapata Wren
, and also gives its name to the Zapata Sparrow
. Due to ongoing habitat loss
in its limited range, its small population size, and predation
by introduced mammal
s and catfish
, the Zapata Rail is evaluated as critically endangered
on the IUCN Red List
of threatened species. Tourism and climate change may pose threats in the future.
Thomas Barbour
and his compatriot, ornithologist James Lee Peters
, in 1927. They considered it distinctive enough to merit its own genus, Cyanolimnas. The genus name derives from Ancient Greek
kuanos "dark blue" and Modern Latin
limnas "rail or crake"; the specific name
cerverai honours the rail’s discoverer, Fermín Zanón Cervera
, a Spanish soldier who had stayed on after the Spanish-American War
and became a professional naturalist.
Barbour had been accompanied by the Spaniard on his previous visits to Cuba, and on hearing of the strange birds to be found in the Zapata area, he sent Cervera on a series of trips into the region. Cervera eventually found the rail near the very small settlement which is commemorated in the Spanish name for the rail, "Gallinuela de Santo Tomás". Cervera also discovered the Zapata Wren and the Zapata Sparrow, and his name is commemorated by the new ecological centre in the Ciénaga de Zapata National Park.
The rail family contains more than 150 species divided into at least 50 genera, the exact number depending on the authority. The Zapata Rail is the only member of the genus Cyanolimnas, and is considered to be intermediate between two other New World genera, Neocrex
and Pardirallus
. All six species in the three genera are long-billed, five have drab plumage
, and all but one have a red spot at the bill base. They are believed to be descended from Amaurornis
-like ancestral stock.
. The Zapata Rail's call is described as a bouncing cutucutu-cutucutu-cutucutu similar to that of the Bare-legged Owl
, and a loud Limpkin-like
kuvk kuck. However, these calls may actually be those of the Spotted Rail
.
There are no similar species in Cuba; the sympatric Spotted Rail is much the same size, but is heavily spotted and barred with white. The Zapata Rail's plumage is intermediate between those of Colombian Crake
and Plumbeous Rail
, but these are mainland birds of Central and South America.
, and the nominate subspecies of the Zapata Sparrow
. The favoured habitat of the Zapata Rail is flooded vegetation, 1.5–2.0 m (60–80 in) tall, consisting of tangled, bush-covered swamp and low trees, and preferably near higher ground. Typical plants of the swamp are wax myrtle
, the willow
Salix longipes, the sawgrass
Cladium jamaicensis, and the narrow leaf cattail
.
The rail was once more widespread, with fossil bones found at Havana, Pinar del Río
and the Isla de la Juventud. Barbour did not believe that the rail, Zapata Sparrow and Zapata Wren were relics in the sense that they once ranged widely over Cuba (as did, for example, the Dwarf Hutia
and the Cuban Crocodile
), since the birds are so highly modified for swamp conditions. He considered that conditions similar to those found today may once have extended over the large submerged area now represented by the shallow banks, with scattered mangrove
keys, which stretch towards the Isla de la Juventud and perhaps eastward along the southern Cuban coast. The birds fossilized at Isla de al Juventud are smaller than the single extant specimen, but the paucity of available material makes it impossible to establish whether the populations were genuinely different.
James Bond
found a nest containing three white eggs 60 cm (2 ft) above water level in sawgrass, but little else is known of the breeding biology. Rails are usually monogamous
, and all have precocial
chicks which are fed and guarded by the adults.
The animal prefers to feed in sawgrass. The diet is not recorded, but most marsh rails are omnivorous
, feeding on invertebrate
s and plant material. The rails may disperse in the rainy season
, returning to permanently flooded areas in the dry months.
Like other rails, this species is difficult to observe as it moves through the sawgrass, and may crouch to avoid detection, but is not usually particularly wary. When disturbed, it may run a short distance and then stop with its tail raised and the conspicuous white undertail showing. Despite its short wings, the Zapata Rail may not be completely flightless. On morphological
grounds it would be classed as a flightless species, since the pectoral girdle and wing are as reduced as in other species of rails that are considered to be flightless, but Bond reported that he saw one flutter about ten feet across a canal.
The Zapata Rail appears to have been easily found in the Santo Tomás area until 1931, but there were no further records until the 1970s when birds were found 65 km (40 mi) away at Laguna del Tesoro. The few records in subsequent years suggest that numbers remain low, although after no official sightings for two decades, a 1998 survey found the birds at two new locations in the Zapata Swamp. Ten rails were detected at Peralta, and seven at Hata de Jicarita. On the basis of this sample it was estimated that 70–90 rails were present in the 230 hectares (570 acres) between the two sites.
The Zapata Rail is restricted to a single area, with an extent of about 1,000 km2 (400 mi2), and its small population, estimated on the basis of recent surveys and local assessments of population densities at between 250–1000 individuals, is assessed as decreasing. In the past, grass-cutting for roof thatch was a cause of extensive loss of breeding habitat, and habitat loss through dry-season burning of the vegetation continues. Predation by introduced Small Asian Mongooses and rats is a problem, and more recently, introduced African Sharptooth Catfish
, Clarias gariepinus, have been identified as a major predator of rail chicks.
The Zapata Rail was classified as an endangered species
on the IUCN Red List
until 2011, when its status was uplisted to critically endangered
. This had already been suggested, since given the lack of knowledge about its calls, the rail's population may be lower than currently estimated.
Two remaining sites are in protected areas, the Corral de Santo Tomás Faunal Refuge, and the Laguna del Tesoro nature tourism area. Surveys have recently been conducted throughout the species' range and proposed conservation
measures include the control of dry season burning.
. This might have a dangerous impact on the wetland, but Cuba's Tourism Minister, Manuel Marrero, and Pablo Bouza, the director of the Ciénaga de Zapata National Park, both said that the increase in tourism would be sustainable.
In the longer term, the Ramsar-listed
swamp itself may be threatened. Rising sea levels due to global warming could contaminate the wetland with saltwater, damaging the plants and fauna, and by 2100 the area of Ciénaga de Zapata would be reduced by one-fifth. Higher ocean temperatures resulting from climate change could also lead to stronger hurricanes and drought. Bouza warned that the fallen vegetation left by hurricanes could act as fuel for further damaging fires once it had dried out.
Rallidae
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...
, the only member of the monotypic genus Cyanolimnas. It has brown upperparts, greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
, white undertail covert
Covert (feather)
A covert feather on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts, which as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.- Wing-coverts :...
s, and red eyes and legs. Its short wings render it almost flightless. It is endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....
to the wetlands of the Zapata Peninsula
Zapata Peninsula
Zapata Peninsula is a large peninsula in Matanzas Province, southern Cuba, at . Ciénaga de Zapata National Park is located on the peninsula....
in southern Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, where its only known nest was found in sawgrass
Cladium
Cladium is a genus of large sedges, with a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions...
tussocks
Tussock (grass)
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are found as native plants in natural ecosystems, as forage in pastures, and as ornamental grasses in gardens....
. Little is known of its diet or reproductive behaviour, and its described calls may belong to a different species.
The Zapata Rail was discovered by Spanish zoologist Fermín Zanón Cervera
Fermín Zanón Cervera
Fermín Zanón Cervera was a Spanish zoologist, born in Godelleta, Valencia. He fought in Cuba in the Spanish–American War and stayed on after as a member of the Civil Guard prior to becoming a professional naturalist...
in March 1927 in the Zapata Swamp
Zapata Swamp
Zapata Swamp is located on the Zapata Peninsula in the southern Matanzas province of Cuba. It is located less than southeast of Havana.-Species and preservation:...
near Santo Tomás, in the southern Matanzas Province
Matanzas Province
Matanzas is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas...
of Cuba. The swamp holds one other bird found nowhere else, the Zapata Wren
Zapata Wren
The Zapata Wren, Ferminia cerverai, is a medium sized grayish-brown bird that lives in dense shrubs of the Zapata Swamp, Cuba. It is the only member of the monotypical genus Ferminia....
, and also gives its name to the Zapata Sparrow
Zapata Sparrow
The Zapata Sparrow, Torreornis inexpectata, is a medium sized grey and yellow bird that lives in the grasslands of the Zapata Swamp and elsewhere on the island of Cuba. Measuring about in length, it is grey and yellow overall with a dark reddish-brown crown and olive-grey upperparts.The Zapata...
. Due to ongoing habitat loss
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
in its limited range, its small population size, and predation
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
by introduced mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s and catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
, the Zapata Rail is evaluated as critically endangered
Critically Endangered
Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild species. Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations....
on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of threatened species. Tourism and climate change may pose threats in the future.
Discovery and taxonomy
The Zapata Rail was formally described by American herpetologistHerpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...
Thomas Barbour
Thomas Barbour
Thomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
and his compatriot, ornithologist James Lee Peters
James Lee Peters
James Lee Peters was an American ornithologist.Peters was Curator of Birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard University...
, in 1927. They considered it distinctive enough to merit its own genus, Cyanolimnas. The genus name derives from Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
kuanos "dark blue" and Modern Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
limnas "rail or crake"; the specific name
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
cerverai honours the rail’s discoverer, Fermín Zanón Cervera
Fermín Zanón Cervera
Fermín Zanón Cervera was a Spanish zoologist, born in Godelleta, Valencia. He fought in Cuba in the Spanish–American War and stayed on after as a member of the Civil Guard prior to becoming a professional naturalist...
, a Spanish soldier who had stayed on after the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
and became a professional naturalist.
Barbour had been accompanied by the Spaniard on his previous visits to Cuba, and on hearing of the strange birds to be found in the Zapata area, he sent Cervera on a series of trips into the region. Cervera eventually found the rail near the very small settlement which is commemorated in the Spanish name for the rail, "Gallinuela de Santo Tomás". Cervera also discovered the Zapata Wren and the Zapata Sparrow, and his name is commemorated by the new ecological centre in the Ciénaga de Zapata National Park.
The rail family contains more than 150 species divided into at least 50 genera, the exact number depending on the authority. The Zapata Rail is the only member of the genus Cyanolimnas, and is considered to be intermediate between two other New World genera, Neocrex
Neocrex
Neocrex is a genus of bird in the Rallidae family. It contains the following species:* Colombian Crake, Neocrex colombiana* Paint-billed Crake, Neocrex erythrops...
and Pardirallus
Pardirallus
Pardirallus is a genus of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It contains three species found in marshland in South and Central America and the West Indies. They are 25–38 cm long and have a long greenish bill and reddish legs...
. All six species in the three genera are long-billed, five have drab plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
, and all but one have a red spot at the bill base. They are believed to be descended from Amaurornis
Amaurornis
Amaurornis is a genus of birds in the Rallidae family.It contains the following species:* Brown Crake, * Plain Bush-hen, * Isabelline Bush-hen,...
-like ancestral stock.
Description
The Zapata Rail is a medium-sized, dark rail, approximately 29 cm (11.4 in) long. The upperparts are olive-brown and the forehead, head sides and underparts are slate-grey, with some white barring on the lower belly. The flanks are grey-brown and the undertail is white. The iris, legs and feet are red, and the bill is yellow with a red base. The tail feathers are only sparsely barbed, and the wings are very short and rounded. The sexes are similar in appearance, but immature birds are duller and have olive feet and bill; the chicks, as with all rails, are covered with blackish downDown feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding,...
. The Zapata Rail's call is described as a bouncing cutucutu-cutucutu-cutucutu similar to that of the Bare-legged Owl
Bare-legged Owl
The Bare-legged Owl or Cuban Screech Owl is a species of owl in the Strigidae family that is endemic to Cuba. It belongs to the monotypic genus Gymnoglaux....
, and a loud Limpkin-like
Limpkin
The Limpkin , Aramus guarauna, is a bird that looks like a large rail but is skeletally closer to cranes. It is the only extant species in the genus Aramus and the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina...
kuvk kuck. However, these calls may actually be those of the Spotted Rail
Spotted Rail
The Spotted Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family.It is found in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad...
.
There are no similar species in Cuba; the sympatric Spotted Rail is much the same size, but is heavily spotted and barred with white. The Zapata Rail's plumage is intermediate between those of Colombian Crake
Colombian Crake
The Colombian Crake is a species of bird in the Rallidae family.It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and swamps.-References:...
and Plumbeous Rail
Plumbeous Rail
The Plumbeous Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, and is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands.Its natural habitat is swamps....
, but these are mainland birds of Central and South America.
Distribution and habitat
The Zapata Rail is a Cuban endemic restricted to the northern part of the 4500 km2 (1740 mi2) Zapata Swamp, which is also the only location for the Zapata WrenZapata Wren
The Zapata Wren, Ferminia cerverai, is a medium sized grayish-brown bird that lives in dense shrubs of the Zapata Swamp, Cuba. It is the only member of the monotypical genus Ferminia....
, and the nominate subspecies of the Zapata Sparrow
Zapata Sparrow
The Zapata Sparrow, Torreornis inexpectata, is a medium sized grey and yellow bird that lives in the grasslands of the Zapata Swamp and elsewhere on the island of Cuba. Measuring about in length, it is grey and yellow overall with a dark reddish-brown crown and olive-grey upperparts.The Zapata...
. The favoured habitat of the Zapata Rail is flooded vegetation, 1.5–2.0 m (60–80 in) tall, consisting of tangled, bush-covered swamp and low trees, and preferably near higher ground. Typical plants of the swamp are wax myrtle
Myrica cerifera
Myrica cerifera is a small tree or large shrub native to North America. Its common names include Wax myrtle, Bayberry, Candleberry, Bayberry tree, and Tallow shrub...
, the willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
Salix longipes, the sawgrass
Cladium
Cladium is a genus of large sedges, with a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions...
Cladium jamaicensis, and the narrow leaf cattail
Typha angustifolia
Typha angustifolia L., , is a perennial herbaceous plant of genus Typha. This cattail is an "obligate wetland" species that is commonly found in the northern hemisphere in brackish locations...
.
The rail was once more widespread, with fossil bones found at Havana, Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río is a city in Cuba. It is the capital of Pinar del Río Province.Inhabitants of the area are called Pinareños.Neighborhoods in the city include La Conchita, La Coloma, Briones Montoto and Las Ovas.-History:...
and the Isla de la Juventud. Barbour did not believe that the rail, Zapata Sparrow and Zapata Wren were relics in the sense that they once ranged widely over Cuba (as did, for example, the Dwarf Hutia
Dwarf Hutia
The dwarf hutia is known only from Cuba. It was last seen in 1937.The hutias are heavily-built guinea pig-like rodents with broad rounded heads. The have relatively small eyes and short rounded ears. The average tail and body length of this hutia is unknown. Some Hutias have prehensile tails,...
and the Cuban Crocodile
Cuban crocodile
The Cuban crocodile is a small species of crocodile found only in Cuba's Zapata Swamp and the Isle of Youth, and highly endangered, though it formerly ranged elsewhere in the Caribbean...
), since the birds are so highly modified for swamp conditions. He considered that conditions similar to those found today may once have extended over the large submerged area now represented by the shallow banks, with scattered mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
keys, which stretch towards the Isla de la Juventud and perhaps eastward along the southern Cuban coast. The birds fossilized at Isla de al Juventud are smaller than the single extant specimen, but the paucity of available material makes it impossible to establish whether the populations were genuinely different.
Behaviour
The Zapata Rail usually breeds in Cladium jamaicensis sawgrass, building the nest above water-level on a raised tussock. Breeding occurs around September, and possibly also in December and January. American ornithologistOrnithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
James Bond
James Bond (ornithologist)
James Bond was a leading American ornithologist whose name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional spy, James Bond.-Biography:...
found a nest containing three white eggs 60 cm (2 ft) above water level in sawgrass, but little else is known of the breeding biology. Rails are usually monogamous
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
, and all have precocial
Precocial
In biology, the term precocial refers to species in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. The opposite developmental strategy is called "altricial," where the young are born or hatched helpless. Extremely precocial species may be called...
chicks which are fed and guarded by the adults.
The animal prefers to feed in sawgrass. The diet is not recorded, but most marsh rails are omnivorous
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
, feeding on invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s and plant material. The rails may disperse in the rainy season
Wet season
The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...
, returning to permanently flooded areas in the dry months.
Like other rails, this species is difficult to observe as it moves through the sawgrass, and may crouch to avoid detection, but is not usually particularly wary. When disturbed, it may run a short distance and then stop with its tail raised and the conspicuous white undertail showing. Despite its short wings, the Zapata Rail may not be completely flightless. On morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
grounds it would be classed as a flightless species, since the pectoral girdle and wing are as reduced as in other species of rails that are considered to be flightless, but Bond reported that he saw one flutter about ten feet across a canal.
Conservation status
Island species of rails are particularly vulnerable to population loss since they frequently and rapidly evolve to become flightless or very weak fliers, and are very susceptible to introduced predators. Fifteen species have become extinct since 1600, and more than 30 are endangered.The Zapata Rail appears to have been easily found in the Santo Tomás area until 1931, but there were no further records until the 1970s when birds were found 65 km (40 mi) away at Laguna del Tesoro. The few records in subsequent years suggest that numbers remain low, although after no official sightings for two decades, a 1998 survey found the birds at two new locations in the Zapata Swamp. Ten rails were detected at Peralta, and seven at Hata de Jicarita. On the basis of this sample it was estimated that 70–90 rails were present in the 230 hectares (570 acres) between the two sites.
The Zapata Rail is restricted to a single area, with an extent of about 1,000 km2 (400 mi2), and its small population, estimated on the basis of recent surveys and local assessments of population densities at between 250–1000 individuals, is assessed as decreasing. In the past, grass-cutting for roof thatch was a cause of extensive loss of breeding habitat, and habitat loss through dry-season burning of the vegetation continues. Predation by introduced Small Asian Mongooses and rats is a problem, and more recently, introduced African Sharptooth Catfish
Clarias gariepinus
Clarias gariepinus or African sharptooth catfish is a species of catfish of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes.- Natural Distribution :...
, Clarias gariepinus, have been identified as a major predator of rail chicks.
The Zapata Rail was classified as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
until 2011, when its status was uplisted to critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
. This had already been suggested, since given the lack of knowledge about its calls, the rail's population may be lower than currently estimated.
Two remaining sites are in protected areas, the Corral de Santo Tomás Faunal Refuge, and the Laguna del Tesoro nature tourism area. Surveys have recently been conducted throughout the species' range and proposed conservation
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
measures include the control of dry season burning.
Future threats
There are plans to encourage more tourists to visit the Zapata area, particularly from Europe, and if the United States allows its citizens to visit Cuba in the future, this could further increase the effects of ecotourismEcotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
. This might have a dangerous impact on the wetland, but Cuba's Tourism Minister, Manuel Marrero, and Pablo Bouza, the director of the Ciénaga de Zapata National Park, both said that the increase in tourism would be sustainable.
In the longer term, the Ramsar-listed
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
swamp itself may be threatened. Rising sea levels due to global warming could contaminate the wetland with saltwater, damaging the plants and fauna, and by 2100 the area of Ciénaga de Zapata would be reduced by one-fifth. Higher ocean temperatures resulting from climate change could also lead to stronger hurricanes and drought. Bouza warned that the fallen vegetation left by hurricanes could act as fuel for further damaging fires once it had dried out.
