2023-11-06 18:16:33
Spix’s macaw parrots, which were reintroduced into the wild following having disappeared there in 2000, have reproduced there, rejoiced Monday the Pairi Daiza Foundation, which participates in the species conservation program. Two chicks were born in artificial nests installed in northeast Brazil. “The chicks are still at a critical and delicate stage. But this is a remarkable step for the future of the species,” notes the Foundation.
The Spix’s macaw lived in the Caatinga, a semi-desert biotope in northeastern Brazil, before being poached and seeing its territory destroyed by man to set up agricultural activities. In 2000, this parrot with blue-green plumage and light blue-rimmed eyes had completely disappeared from the wild and the species was officially declared “extinct in the wild”. The last living specimens were taken care of in Berlin, at the reproduction and conservation center of the Association for the Conservation of Endangered Parrots. This is where a breeding program was set up, with which the Pairi Daiza Foundation joined forces in 2018. A bird conservation center was then built within the park. Visitors can see Spix’s macaws there.
In 2020, three macaws from Pairi Daiza and 49 others from central Berlin were sent to a breeding and rehabilitation site co-financed by Hennuyer Park in Brazil. “After a long adaptation in huge rehabilitation aviaries, to relearn the reflexes of life in the wild, Spix’s macaws were able to spread their wings in the wild. Once in June 2022 then in December 2022,” reports the Foundation. Reintroductions are progressive: the spaces in which the birds lived in captivity remain open for a long period so that they can return there whenever they wish.
“These hatchings encourage us to continue our efforts and remind us of the extreme usefulness of breeding programs for saving endangered species. But the process is far from over. With ACTP, ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, Brazil) and our other partners, we aim to reconstitute, in a natural environment, a sufficiently large and protected population of Spix’s macaws to ensure the survival and the development of the species,” comments the director of the Foundation, Antoine Lebrun.
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