Hunting wild animals for food is also common in the region where the Lear's macaw lives, so, despite protections, it also takes a toll on the bird. The second major threat to the Lear's macaw is its diminishing food source. Most farms in this region of Bahia use licuri palm patches to pasture their cows and goats. Unfortunately, the cows and goats trample young palms and eat licuri seedlings, especially during the dry season. At this point, these pastures contain no licuri seedlings, which means that new trees can not grow.
Farmers also burn their pastures for agricultural purposes, which destroys licuri palm trees.
In the long run, losing licuri palms could have a big impact on Lear's populations. And all of these threats to the Lear's macaw become more complicated because this region is extremely poor. Hunger and unemployment are common. People's poverty makes it more difficult for conservationists to develop programs to protect the macaw and to convince local people not to capture the bird for money. I understand that conservationists are working to find more Lear's macaws in the wild.