The Bird Of The Film Rio Is Not Extinct
Recently it was reported that Spix’s macaw, the bird in the Rio movie , has become extinct. The truth is that, although his situation is extremely at risk today, there are still some specimens left on our planet. In this article we will talk about the fact that Spix’s macaw, the bird from the Rio movie, has not become extinct.
Did the bird in the Rio movie become extinct?
Declaring an extinct species is serious and, above all, difficult. The fewer specimens of a species remain, the more difficult it is to spot them, verify their conditions and declare their extinction. This is the case with the bird in the Rio film , Spix’s macaw.
The last area where the bird from the Rio movie was spotted is in the north of the state of Bahia, Brazil. Here, up to the mid-1980s, at least three specimens survived , which were captured at the end of this decade to be sold as pets.
What is known is that this male survived until the end of the year 2000. As of this time, despite the work of scientists in the area, there is no reliable information regarding sightings of this bird.
In 2016, the alarm was raised by a sighting, but the animal was again lost from sight and could not be located.
Now, a team of scientists has analyzed all available information, including threats, population patterns of the species and the latest sightings. These researchers have suggested that the animal would be extinct in the wild, so it is recommended to declare it as such.
To date, the bird in the Rio film , the so-called Spix’s Macaw, is classified as a critically endangered species. The new classification declares the species disappeared in the wild, which does not mean that Spix’s macaw is extinct: there are still specimens in captivity suitable for reintroduction.
Why have so many specimens of the Spix macaw disappeared?
Although it still exists on our planet, think that Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii ) has practically disappeared from Earth. The truth is that already at the time of its discovery, at the beginning of the 19th century, the species was already enormously threatened by deforestation.
The exploitation of the bird ecosystem in the Rio movie expelled it from its former territories, as did the illegal catches it carried out during the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, the life of Spix macaws is linked to trees such as the caraiba, which grows very slowly.
Will the bird from the Rio movie return to the wild?
Therefore this species has been at risk since the 1980s. But we must not lose hope. In 1987 an international meeting was held in a zoo in Spain known as Loro Parque, which included, among others, specimens of this species.
In 1990 a committee was organized for the recovery of this species, for which the 15 specimens of Spix’s macaw that still survived in captivity were used. The Loro Parque Foundation itself has funded conservation programs for the species and has sold all its specimens to the reintroduction project.
Today there are more than 100 specimens of Spix macaws in captivity, some of them in species conservation centers and some in zoos. All this thanks to the work of veterinarians, biologists and other professionals.
Many of these animals could return to the wild: just a few months ago an agreement was signed under which 50 of these birds will be sent to Brazil.
The reintroduction project is expected to begin in 2022 and the bird from the Rio film will be able to return to its natural habitat, the forests surrounding Brazilian rivers.
