The toucan Toco has completed its integration process in the aviary of Terra Natura Benidorm. We have managed to get this Toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) to adapt in the aviary with the rest of the toucans of different species thanks to the changes of some environmental factors of the facilities.
This tropical ecosystem has four toucans that had to be relocated in other areas due to the dominance behavior they have with the rest of the birds and even with the marmosets. However, following the arrival of a new Swanson toucan, it was decided to re-attempt the reintroduction of this species into the aviary.
Environmental factors were improved, such as the increase in vegetation and the implantation of the nebulization system to ensure that the aviary seems as much as possible its habitat of origin, which are tropical forests and this way we have made the integration of the toucan Toco into the aviary. This change in behavior has also been influenced by their bond of trust with the zookeepers and that the birds had already delimited their territory.
The adaptation of these birds is complicated because they show dominant behaviors. At present, our aviary has a total of 350 animals of 45 different species. As a curiosity, the toucan Toco is considered the biggest toucan and has a peak of 30 centimetres long.
In the aviary, different hierarchies have been established between the species that live there, some of them dominate the ground and others the height. This dominance can be detected where the bird establishes its territory and they devote themselves to eating, nesting and interacting with the rest of the birds. Some of these species such as the paují, the chajá, the trumpeter and the northern peacock dominate the ground level and the ibises and storks, the heights; those ones have two specific nesting areas and visitors can see them.
The toucan Toco is listed as CITES II, which means that it is not in danger of extinction, although its population has declined alarmingly in freedom since 2002 due to illegal trafficking, hunting, deforestation and environmental pollution.