• Submitted by: Luis Manuel Mazorra
• Science and Technology
• 02 / 20 / 2012

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La Loma, Ana María fell islet of Ciego de Avila, has been used as an ecological reserve for a kind of guinea pig conguina that is in danger of extinction. So far, animal reproduction has been favorable.
Oriol Lopez, technical director of the Company for the Conservation of Flora and Fauna in the province, said the conguina lives in the mangroves of La Salina, but the hunting of man forced to place it anywhere else and it worked.

This action is part of a program initiated in 2005 to take safe haven so small rodent avileña exclusive area.

Eight individuals who moved to La Loma and there are over 30, with burrows formed, Lopez said, referring to recent observations made on site.

Attached to these management tasks materializes another environmental education project with the residents of the nearby community in the municipality of Venezuela to teach them how to care for these natural values, said the head coach of Flora and Fauna.

During the last count in La Salina, in 2007, 177 nests were found containing between two and four animals each, and another is planned from 27 of the current month, he said Lopez.

The guinea pig is brown conguina, measures about 20 inches, weighs between 200 and 420 grams and feeds on mangrove and shellfish.

Felix Pereira, an expert on Science, Technology and Environment in the territory, explained that the place where these animals live is proposed to be included within the boundaries of the wildlife refuge and national significance.

Considered very successful the idea of ​​reproducing the species in another area to expand their habitat and maintain balance in the ecosystem Keys Ana Maria, which is an extensive marine shelf area south of Ciego de Avila with varieties of commercial importance.