Seriemas universitárias: comportamento, ciência cidadã e educação ambiental nas redes sociais

Abstract

The Red-legged Seriema (Cariama cristata) is an omnivorous species and its opportunism in establishing itself in urban environments demonstrates its environmental plasticity. However, proximity to human-modified environments brings various threats to the species, such as roadkill, inadvertent domestication, and interactions with domestic animals. Furthermore, frequent contact with the local community presents opportunities for developing environmental education initiatives. The objective of this study was to describe the life history of a seriema found in the territory of the Federal University of São Carlos - Sorocaba Campus, as well as to disseminate this knowledge through non-formal environmental education on social media. For behavioral analysis, flight distance sampling, direct observations of the species, and the dissemination of an online questionnaire for data collection via citizen science were conducted. Behaviors were classified into categories based on previous studies. For informal environmental education, profiles were created on Instagram and Facebook, whose effectiveness was assessed using an online questionnaire. During direct observations (38h19min), natural behaviors and those resulting from proximity to the urban environment were identified. The emergence of a second individual and reproduction of the species were observed. Initial flight distances showed significant differences between the initial and final samplings. Through citizen science, 248 records of the species were obtained. Nineteen informative posts about the species and related topics were published on social media. In the evaluation questionnaire, 90.7% (37) rated the language used as very accessible, 97.7% (42) acquired new knowledge, 100% (43) felt more sensitized by the species and the topics covered, and 95.3% (41) reported that they would follow other profiles with similar content. This study contributed to broadening the understanding of how Cariama cristata adapts to human-modified environments and how social media can be an ally in environmental education and scientific dissemination.