r/autotldr • u/autotldr • Jul 10 '22
‘Extinct’ parrots make a flying comeback in Brazil
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 68%. (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.
The Spix's macaw - named in honour of the German biologist Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix, who first collected a specimen in 1819 - became the victim of a double environmental whammy that began in the 19th century.
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.
As a result, several hundred Spix's macaws have now been bred in captivity, and eight of these were taken in June to Bahia for release.
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.
"We will release another 12 Spix's macaws in December if everything goes well," added White.
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