LEARN ABOUT MILLY'S STORY!

LET’S INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR SPECTACULAR SURVIVOR MILITARY MACAW ‘MILLY’

This picture above of the beautiful Ambassador Milly the Military Macaw was taken from the Reptile Conservation Centre of Trinidad and Tobago. Military Macaws are usually noisy so they can be heard a distance before they are even seen. They usually measure about 65- 80 centimeters in length. They can be found in the rainforests of Mexico and South America. They nest at the very top of trees in the rainforest. Females can lay one to two eggs. Military Macaws reach sexual maturity approximately two to four years. There are 3 subspecies, they can be differentiated based on their location:

- Ara militaris militaris

- Ara militaris mexicana

- Ara militaris boliviana

They feed on food like seeds, fruits, nuts, and berries. Also, they eat vegetations that they find on trees in the rainforests.

This photo was taken at the Reptile Conservation Center of Trinidad & Tobago.

A BIT ABOUT MILLY’S STORY

Milly is a Military Macaw (Ara Militaris). They are a member of the macaw family. She is not a native species of Trinidad and Tobago. Milly along with many other macaws were seized from smugglers by the Wildlife Section of the Forestry Division in 2014 and were given to the RCCTT to nurture. Milly along with the other macaws were knocking on death's door when they were seized from the smugglers. They were all in horrid states upon arrival. Seven years later Milly is the only survivor from that batch that got seized. The others were too far gone! Since 2014 Milly became an RCCTT ambassador to educate the public about not only about the macaw species but also highlight the illegal wildlife pet trade as well. The illegal wildlife trade has had a traumatic impact on Milly and her fallen comrades.

CONSERVATION STATUS

The population of the Military Macaws have been decreasing over the years. The two major reasons are increase in deforestation and illegal wildlife trade. One of the reasons can be seen in Milly’s story where it highlighted the increased in illegal wildlife trade has drastic affects on their survival. The animals’ health is not taken into consideration because the people involved just think ‘how can I make a quick buck and the animals sadly just deal with the consequences of that manner thinking.

FUN FACT

MILITARY MACAWS CAN LIVE FOR 50-60 YEARS!!!!