#717: Spix Macaw

The Spix Macaw is the rarest parrot in the world, being entirely extinct in the wild, with the captive population standing at around 100 birds. He is the small blue macaw made famous by the film "Rio".  Spix Macaw lived in the caatinga forest in northeastern Brazil. This is a dry forest of stunted trees, thorny shrubs and cacti (a far cry from the rainforest in "Rio") that has suffered from dramatic deforestation. The last wild macaw was sighted in 2000. With the captive population descended from only 7 birds, this species has a struggle ahead of it to survive. However, areas of the caatinga have been set aside as a reserve, with restoration in process, and the plan is to release captive-bred birds within the next 5 years. One of these captive-breeding facilities is in, of all places, Qatar, and owned by a sheik.

Here's more infomration on the Al Wabra Wildlife Preserve: http://awwp.alwabra.com/

I have also written a short story inspired by the movie "Rio" and the plight of this parrot - and the hope of it one day being released into the wild. It is called "Saving the Blue" (or possibly may be renamed to just "Saving Blue") and has not yet been released as I am contemplating seeking an anthology for it.