Conservationists are taking significant steps to protect the Lear’s macaw, a bird classified as “threatened” on both Brazil’s list of endangered species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list. Endemic to the northern section of Bahia, Brazil, this beautiful species was brought to the brink of extinction in the 1990s. The available population has dwindled to under 2,600 people. Approximately 90% of them inhabit the Raso da Catarina territory.
In the specific context of Lear’s macaw, between January and August 2025, we lost 35 Lear’s macaws to electrocution. This tragic loss in his district underscores the urgent need for action. As the region’s power grid has grown by approximately 30% between 2018 and 2023, the risk of these costly accidents has only continued to increase. Lear’s macaws thrive in the Caatinga biome. Here, carcasses are eaten down to the bone by hyenas and vultures, but only if the carcasses have time to decompose naturally over three days.
Thanks to government and nonprofit organizations’ conservation efforts the Lear’s macaw population is up to an estimated 2,500 individuals today. However, despite progress, a new study indicates that immediate action is required to mitigate the electrocution risk associated with power lines. According to experts, fixing even a small fraction like 1% of the poles in these high-risk areas could stop as much as 35% of these deadly crashes. This requires replacement or treatment on at least 5,668 poles.
The report goes on to explain that even if only 5% of the most at-risk share—22,037 poles—were upgraded, that would still avert 60% of electrocutions. Extending the initiative to cover 10% or 20% of these areas would require changes to 37,412 and 63,966 poles, respectively, leading to reductions in accidents greater than 80% and 90%.
“The main objective is to identify priority areas for mitigation, where changes can be made to the poles to prevent further deaths and potential power outages. Our estimates indicate a good cost-benefit ratio for both the supplier and the conservation of the species,” – Larissa Biasotto.
Researchers have pioneered the use of biologgers to follow the daily movements of Lear’s macaws. With this technology they can identify the areas of activity for the birds more effectively. This new approach is a departure from standard practice, which often looks at a species’ whole distribution range. Rather, it hones in on concrete places that are most important to macaws’ activity and that they’re most threatened within.
“One of the innovations of the study is that we didn’t use the species’s distribution area as a whole… It’s in these places that they spend most of the day, feeding, interacting with each other, and perching on poles and medium-voltage wires,” – Larissa Biasotto.
Even these past mitigation efforts have encountered difficulties. In Bahia, extreme weather and improper installation damaged netting structures intended to shelter the birds. These test sites stocks suffered from severe destruction in response.
“However, in the locations where they were installed for testing in Bahia, the structures were damaged, probably due to weather conditions and improper installation,” – Larissa Biasotto.
A huge proportion of carcasses are likely never accounted for in rural areas or are eaten by scavengers minutes after dying.
“This is a conservative number because it doesn’t account for all those that may have died in sparsely populated areas or whose carcasses were consumed by dogs or scavenger birds,” – Erica Pacífico.
Conservationists urge a wait-and-see strategy until additional studies can determine whether Virginia’s entire population is viable.
“Until we have a population viability study for the species, a reduction closer to 90% would be more cautious, making changes to 10% to 20% of the poles,” – Erica Pacífico.