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NEWS
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PRESS
RELEASE
ISSUED
BY FUNDACIÓN LORO PARQUE, TENERIFE, SPAIN
23
DECEMBER 2002
Almost Extinct Parrot Gets
New Recruit
A remarkable recent discovery in a private home in the USA of a captive male
Spix´s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), the world´s rarest parrot, has provided a
boost to the international effort to save this iconic species from extinction.
Reported to have been trapped in the wild and illegally exported from Brazil,
this bird had remained undercover despite a formal offer made by the Brazilian
Government in 1990 to declare an “amnesty” for all owners of captive Spix´s
macaws, in exchange for full cooperation in a breeding programme to help recover
the species. However, after its many years of dormancy, this bird has just been
repatriated to Brazil by the US Fish and Wildlife Agency, where preparations to
incorporate it into the official breeding programme have been in place for
several months.
These have been developed by the counterpart agency in Brazil, the Brazilian
Institute for Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (IBAMA), in
collaboration its principal partner and funder of the recovery effort, the Loro
Parque Fundación of Tenerife in Spain, and several other key players. From a
low of 11 known birds in captivity in 1990, successful breeding has increased
the current known captive population to about 70. This delicate blue macaw,
native to the dry north-east of Brazil, suffered from habitat loss and trapping
such that by 1990 the species had dwindled to one last free-living male. With
his loss in 2000, the Spix´s macaw became extinct in the wild.
The new recruit to the official breeding programme adds impetus to the recovery
effort, not only because every single bird must be cherished, but especially
because he is likely to be less related to the existing captives and can be
expected to make a vital genetic contribution. This was a key point of a
workshop, held in Brazil in November of this year, to re-formulate the breeding
programme including the incorporation of the US bird. Additional to IBAMA and
the Loro Parque Fundación, the planning workshop included representatives from
Conservation International Brazil, the Smithsonian Institution, Sao Paulo Zoo,
Chaparral Breeding Centre, ITAIPU, the new International Studbook Keepers Carlos
Bianchi and Wanderlei de Moraes, and Dr Jeremy Mallinson, recently of the
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. The formation of a new Working Group
resulted from discussions held in Tenerife in September 2002 between the Loro
Parque Fundación and Dr Iolita Bampi of IBAMA when she visited to take a female
Spix´s macaw back to Brazil.
In the workshop, internationally acclaimed geneticist, Dr Jon Ballou of the
Smithsonian Institution formulated several positive breeding scenarios for the
addition of the newly repatriated bird to the existing eight birds considered
within the breeding programme recognised by IBAMA. Between them, these
individual birds retain almost all the genetic variability originally found in
captive Spix´s macaws. Within the re-formulated programme the holders agree to
abide by the scientific guidelines produced by the new working group, acting on
behalf of the Brazilian government, for the most effective genetic and
demographic management of the population, and new transfers were agreed upon.
The Loro Parque Fundación, a member of the working group, returned ownership of
its Spix´s macaws to the government of Brazil several years ago, including the
bird it recently sent to Brazil, and the two it currently manages in its
breeding centre in Tenerife on behalf of the Brazilian authorities. The
remaining captive birds are held by several private owners in Switzerland, the
Philippines and Qatar, who refuse to manage their Spix's macaws in the interest
of recovering the species, as established by the Brazilian government scientific
guidelines. Such refusal forced the Brazilian government to dissolve in July
2001 the
previous Permanent Committee for the Recovery of the Spix´s Macaw (CPRAA).
The new working group has also agreed to the incorporation of the Spix´s macaw
recovery into a vital regional conservation plan being developed with support
from Conservation International Brazil. Through a US$40,000 donation by the Loro
Parque Fundación, this will include purchase of critical habitat for eventual
release of Spix´s macaws, in the area where the species was last found living
wild. In this same area over the past 12 years to date the Loro Parque Fundación
has financially supported with US$ 630,000 a multidisciplinary field
conservation programme, plus providing its avicultural, veterinary and
biological expertise, in partnership with IBAMA. The field programme has
resulted in the creation of much improved conditions for eventual reintroduction
to be successful. Of special significance, the programme has developed strong
participation by the local community of Curaçá, not just in a willingness to
protect wild birds, but also in habitat protection and restoration, and
improving patterns of livestock grazing resulting in broader ecosystem benefits.
Although a female Spix´s macaw released in 1995 to join the male subsequently
disappeared, the later reintroduction of a group of Illiger´s macaws
Propyrrhura maracana to the area as a pilot attempt was successful. During the
same period, various innovative techniques for nest manipulation met with
similar success. Thus, the cumulative total of activities has prepared the
ground for the eventual recovery of this species to the wild state.
For More Information Please Contact:
* In Brazil:
Dr Maria Iolita Bampi, General Coordinator of Fauna, Institute
for Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (Coordenadora
Geral de Fauna, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos
Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA).
Email: iolitabampi@hotmail.com
* In Tenerife, Spain:
Dr David Waugh, Environmental Advisor, Loro Parque Fundación
Email: environment@loroparque-fundacion.org
or
Yves de Soye, Director, Loro Parque Fundación
E-Mail: dir.cientifica@loroparque-fundacion.org
Tel: ++ 34 922 374081 ++ 34 922 373841
© Copyright 2005
Natasha Schischakin All Rights Reserved
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