One bird showed up in 1997 and Ecuador never got its forest back.
This Curious Bird Had Never Been Seen Before, and its Discovery Changed Ecuador–Perhaps Forever
In 1997, ornithologist Robert Ridgely and colleagues heard an unknown bird call in a remote Andean forest near the Peru border and found a grey-brown bird with stilted legs new to science, the Jocotoco Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi). Funds raised to buy that land became the Tapichalaca Reserve, now the first of 19 Jocotoco Foundation reserves protecting 123,000 acres, plus 200,000 acres managed with local communities. The reserves hold 1,350 bird species, 12.5% of the world's total.
Source: This Curious Bird Had Never Been Seen Before, and its Discovery Changed Ecuador–Perhaps Forever — Good News Network
A daily AI-made news meme from Jester · Sep 22, 2026.
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