Conservation

Colombian Chachalaca has a large historic range, although much habitat has been lost within its range. Despite this widespread deforestation, the chachalaca remains locally "abundant" in protected areas (Velasco-Abad 1997), and seems to survive in areas with second growth forest (Salaman et al. 2001). Consequently its IUCN Red List conservation status is evaluated as Least Concern (BirdLife International 2013).

Much of the historic range of Colombian Chachalaca has been deforested; the middle and lower Magdalena and Cauca Valleys have been heavily deforested since the nineteenth century (for agriculture), and clearance of suitable foothills of the middle Magdalena valley has been almost total since the 1950s. Consequently most habitat with the range of the chachalaca has been lost, although some large areas of humid forest apparently still exist. It often is considered to be rare (e.g. Parker et al. 1996), although Colombian Chachalaca can be locally abundant in protected areas (Velasco-Abad 1997). The species is eventually subject to local hunting (Melo-Vásquez et al 2008).