Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar has announced the successful hatching and rearing of a Lear's Macaw

Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar has announced the successful hatching and rearing of a Lear's Macaw. Although the young macaw hatched on 14th July,  they wanted to see how it progressed before announcing this landmark result. It is now more than 34 days old and thriving. Two fertile eggs were laid by the adult pair, but one died at an early stage of its development within the egg. They have four pairs of Lear's Macaws in Qatar on loan from the Brazilian government since 2004 and have admitted the species is challenging to breed successfully in captivity.AWWP’s successful breeding of a Lear’s Macaw represents the first offspring bred as part of the official IBAMA initiated captive breeding programme.

The last officially recognised breeding of Lear's Macaws in captivity was in the 1984 at Busch Gardens in Florida. It is believed that the captive Lear's Macaws in Switzerland have bred, but the small group of breeders there is very secretive about its successes with both Lear's and Spix's Macaws. More information and images of the young macaw at various stages in the last six weeks can be viewed at its website here.