A baby of a species of macaw recovered in Brazil is born in Brazil Parrot park. This fact is a “transcendental milestone for the conservation of endangered species”, according to the Tenerife zoo, which explains in a statement that it has the first breeding of Lear’s macaw on-site (in their natural habitat) from birds born and raised ex situ (outside its natural habitat) in the Loro Parque Fundación, the largest living genetic reserve for parrots in the world.
The reintroduced birds that hatched and were raised under human care at the Loro Parque Fundación Not only have they been able to survive in their natural habitat, fully adapting to their environment, but they have also been able to reproduce.
In the breeding center of the Foundation, more than 40 specimens have already been born, 19 have already been sent to Brazil, of which eight were successfully introduced into the natural environment.
This is one of the great projects of the Loro Parque Fundación, which has managed to change the category of this species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from “critically endangered” to “endangered”. . This event meant their salvation from imminent extinction, something that the Loro Parque Fundación has managed to do with a total of 10 species to date.
The protection and progressive recovery of Lear’s macaw It has been a long road and a lot of work, in which the work ex situ carried out by the Loro Parque Fundación, to whom the Brazilian Government transferred two couples 16 years ago, in 2006, with the aim of breeding and saving a species that was in a very vulnerable situation.
In 1983 there were only 60 specimens of this species left in the wild. and thanks to the perseverance of the Loro Parque Fundación, their numbers are currently much better, exceeding 1,200 individuals. This birth is one of the greatest reintroduction successes in the world, which highlights the importance of the work of the Foundation, which has a history of more than 200 successful projects over the 28 years since its inception.
In addition, it strongly reinforces the fundamental role of zoos as protectors of endangered fauna, since they provide animals with a safety net, which they usually lack in their natural environment. They face threats that, to a large extent, occur as a consequence of the destruction caused by human action in their habitats.
The event also coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Loro Parque, recognized twice by the prestigious Tripadvisor travel portal as the best zoo in the world.
Said reintroduction into the natural environment is part of an integrated project with birds raised ex situ and in situ in which the Loro Parque Fundación collaborates with more than 10 institutions from all over the world, such as, for example, the Prague Zoo or the National Center Research and Conservation of Wild Birds of Brazil (CEMAVE), among many others.
