Red-billed Curassows Crax blumenbachii being released at REGUA, 19 September 2008 (© Lee Dingain)
On 19 September 2008, another 10 Red-billed Curassows Crax blumenbachii were released at REGUA. Stephen Rumsey of BART, which funds the project, was present to open the release pen. The birds needed some encouragement, but after a while the group of two males and eight females finally took their first steps into the wild. There have now been a total of 48 Red-billed Curassows released at REGUA, all of which have had radio tags and numbered rings fitted. Some of these birds have been predated and some have lost their tags, but the 23 known survivors are providing vital information which will assist with the planning and implementation of further release programmes. Birds are occasionally sighted around the reserve and biologist Christine Steiner from São Carlos University, São Paulo, who is studying the birds, is hopeful that one pair might possibly breed in the current season (August 2008 to March 2009).
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