RapportFondation 2025 V02 EN light - Flipbook - Page 28
Protect & RESTORE
2024 REPORT
BRAZIL
LET’S REINTRODUCE THE
Spix's macaw
A SPECIES OF BIRD EXTINCT IN THE WILD
AMOUNT COMMITTED TO DATE: €4,239,384 –
WE CONTRIBUTE THROUGH TIME-INVESTMENT OF OUR TEAMS.
2018 > PRESENT
Made famous by the animated movie “Rio”, the Spix’s macaw – which is native to the Brazilian Caatinga – is one
of the rarest birds in the world. Victim of poaching and habitat degradation caused by the increase in farming, the
population of Spix’s macaws in the wild steadily declined until they were declared extinct in 2000. Fortunately, the
last birds in captivity (kept illegally) were saved. A breeding programme then began, allowing the species to be
preserved. Three centres around the world are now involved in breeding Spix’s macaws: Pairi Daiza and two centres
in Berlin (Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots – ACTP) and Brazil. The end goal is to release Spix’s
macaws bred ex situ in Brazil. For this to succeed, the gradual rehabilitation of the birds to their natural environment
is essential. In Brazil, a rehabilitation centre allows the birds to learn the habits necessary for their survival in the
wild. In 2022, one of the dreams of the Pairi Daiza Foundation came true when 20 Spix’s macaws were reintroduced
into their natural habitat in Brazil. This world first was carried out with the support of the Foundation and the Park’s
zoological team, in partnership with the ACTP and the Brazilian government.
AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME:
TO RE-ESTABLISH A GENETICALLY DIVERSE EX-SITU POPULATION OF SPIX’S MACAWS.
TO RESTORE THE NATURAL HABITAT OF THE SPECIES IN THE BRAZILIAN CAATINGA.
TO RAISE AWARENESS AMONG LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
TO REINTRODUCE BIRDS BRED EX SITU INTO THE WILD.
TO MONITOR THE INDIVIDUALS REINTRODUCED.
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