Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2009
The author was one of the first people to see the white-winged guan Penelope albipennis, an endemic Peruvian bird thought to be extinct, after its rediscovery in September 1977. It is believed now that a few hundred of the birds may survive, and if protected could become a viable population. But some are taken for food, and it is urgent to create a sanctuary for them. The author is Head of the Department of Ornithology and Mammalogy in the Natural History Museum in Lima.