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Rhea americana
– Near Threatened
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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ANIMALIA
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Phylum:
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CHORDATA
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Class:
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AVES
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Order:
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STRUTHIONIFORMES
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Family:
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RHEIDAE
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Scientific Name:
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Rhea americana
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Species Authority:
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(Linnaeus, 1758)
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Common Name/s:
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| English | — | GREATER RHEA |
| French | — | NANDOU COMMUN, NANDOU D'AMÉRIQUE, NANDOU GRIS |
| Spanish | — | AVESTRUZ, ÑANDÚ COMÚN, ÑANDÚ |
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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NT ver 3.1 (2001)
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Year Assessed:
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2004
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Assessor/s:
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BirdLife International
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Evaluator/s:
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Stattersfield, A., Benstead, P. & Butchart, S. (BirdLife International Red List Authority)
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Justification:
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Nearly qualifies for listing under criteria A2cd+3cd.
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History:
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| 1988 | - | Near-threatened (Collar and Andrew 1988) |
| 1994 | - | Lower Risk/near threatened (Collar, Crosby and Stattersfield 1994) |
| 2000 | - | Lower Risk/near threatened (BirdLife International 2000) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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Rhea americana has a large range in north-east and south-east Brazil, east Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and north-east and east Argentina south to 40°S2. It typically occurs in pampas, campo cerrado and open chaco woodland, normally in areas with some tall grassland and other vegetation, but also in open grassland and cultivated fields, at elevations up to 1,200 m 1,2,4,5. For breeding, it prefers areas adjacent to rivers, lakes and marshes2. Its status is obfuscated by the presence of feral birds3, but it has declined markedly partly owing to hunting for meat and the colossal export of skins. Over 50,000 skins were traded in 1980, most apparently originating in Paraguay, with Japan and USA leading consumers2. In recent years, the large-scale conversion of central South American grasslands for agriculture and cattle-ranching6 has considerably reduced and fragmented its available habitat, particularly in the pampas and cerrado strongholds. The healthiest populations are now in parts of the Chaco region2. CITES Appendix II
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Countries:
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Native:
Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Paraguay; Uruguay
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Habitat and Ecology
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