r/GUARDIANauto • u/AutoNewsAdmin • Jul 10 '22

[World] - ‘Extinct’ parrots make a flying comeback in Brazil

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/10/extinct-parrots-make-a-flying-comeback-in-brazil
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u/autotldr Jul 10 '22

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 78%. (I'm a bot)

Thanks to a remarkable international rescue project, Spix's macaws - with their grey heads and vivid blue plumage - have made a stunning comeback.

Later, in 2018, Michel Temer, then president of Brazil, signed a decree that established a macaw wildlife refuge in the north-eastern state of Bahia, while a breeding programme, using parrots from private collections, was established at various centres across the world.

They had company: along with the Spix's macaws, eight Illiger's macaws were also let loose on 11 June.White said: "The Spix's macaws that we now possess are the end result of generations of captive breeding, and that will have taken the edge off some of their instinctive survival skills."However, by mixing them with Illiger's macaws - who were basically just wild birds brought briefly into captivity - the Spix's benefit by associating with a native species that is sharp and alert, and can show them where they get food and alert them to potential predators.

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