OTS - World sensation: The Spix's Macaw is back.
2020. March 03. 09:57
Berlin, 3 March, 2020 (APA/OTS) - Extinct parrot species is being
resettled in Brazil. - Just in time for this year's World Wildlife
Day, today, 52 Spix's Macaw parrots, 49 from the ACTP headquarters
in Berlin, 3 from Pairi Daiza in Belgium, will arrive in Brazil -
here, they will be prepared for their reintroduction and further
life in the wild over the next months. More information on
www.act-parrots.org, on www.pressebox.de/newsroom/actp-ev and
#spixsAreComingHome.
This parrot species, which has been considered extinct in the
wild for two decades, has been known worldwide since the movie
"Rio", in which a Spix's Macaw named "Blu" plays the leading role.
The excitement is correspondingly great in Brazil, where the
villages of the Caatinga region and Curaçá City in the state Bahia
in the northeast of the country are preparing to receive the birds.
The reintroduction of the Spix's Macaw is part of a larger
community program in Caatinga, which was declared a protected area
in 2018, to promote biodiversity and organic farming. The
approximately 7,500 students in the local schools will be taught
about the project and will thus be sensitized to the topic of
species conservation and eco-tourism.
The animals had fallen victim to decades of poaching and the
loss of their natural habitat through cattle breeding and
colonisation. Breeding seemed impossible as only a very small
number of birds had survived and the genetic pool was too limited.
So, the first attempts to breed were unsuccessful. In 2012, the
Brazilian federal government agency ICMBio, Institute for the
Conservation of Biodiversity, together with several partner
organizations established an Action Plan to increase the captive
population, protect the habitat and promote the reintroduction of
the Spix's Macaw.
In 2016, the non-profit organisation ACTP, which has been
committed to the protection, conservation and development of
threatened parrot populations and their habitats since its
foundation in 2006, launched the "Spix Release Project" together
with the ICMBio and the support of the Belgian Pairi Daiza
Foundation. In 2018, all Spix stocks were therefore brought
together at ACTP in Berlin. Under the supervision of a team of
experts, a critical number of animals have been bred over the last
few years. Fortunately, the captive breeding technology developed
by the holders and the artificial insemination program of Al Wabra
Wildlife Preservation from Qatar, helped increase the small
population of 53 birds in 2000 up to 180 healthy parrots today.
From these, the first animals are now to be resettled to their
original home.
On March 3, 2020, the birds and their accompanying team of
veteranians, animal keepers, biologists, members of the Brazilian
government and cameramen will fly in a specially chartered aircraft
to Petrolina in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, not far from the
parrots' new destination: a large breeding and release center near
Curaçá, in the state of Bahia. It is located on a 45 hectare site
in the protected Caatinga area. Here, the parrots will be prepared
for their life in the wild. In 2021, the first group of Spix's
Macaws will be released into the wild.
About ACTP
Association for the Conservation of Threatend Parrots (ACTP) is
a registered non-profit association. The association was founded in
2006 and has its headquarters in Berlin. It is dedicated to the
protection, conservation and development of threatened parrot
populations and their habitats. In 2008, the association bred the
first Spix's Macaws in Berlin. More information on
www.act-parrots.org, on www.pressebox.de/newsroom/actp-ev and
#spixsAreComingHome.
About ICMBio
Federal agency, responsible for the conservation programs in
Brazil. It is the coordinator of the Spix's Macaw Action Plan and
Captive Breeding Program. It is the manager of the Spix's Macaw
Wildlife Refugee and Environmental Protected Area.
About Pairi Daiza Foundation
Pairi Daiza Foundation is a non-profit association, housed by
the Pairi Daiza zoo in Brugelette, Belgium, that aims to manage and
protect nature reserves and threatened animals all over the world.
In addition to the pedagogical role of showing the wonders of
biodiversity and sensitizing visitors, the Pairi Daiza Foundation
wants to go further and give back to nature what it has given us.
Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com)
Press contacts
ACTP: press@act-parrots.eu, +49(151)53114473
ICMBIO: comunicacao@icmbio.gov.br
Pairi Daiza: mathieu.goedefroy@pairidaiza.eu (English),
claire.gilissen@pairidaiza.eu (French)
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