It has now reached a seriously critical point as indicated by an extraordinary article published in

The Permanent International Committee for the Recovery of the Spix's Macaw (CPRAA) saga has now reached a seriously critical point as indicated by an extraordinary article published in the latest issue of Cyanopsitta, the newsletter of the Loro Parque Foundation. Although dated March 2001, the issue is only just being distributed. The German language version can be seen here, the Spanish language version here and Portuguese here.

This situation explains why IBAMA, the Brazilian wildlife government agency, is insisting on the repatriation of confiscated Lear's Macaws. Some of the latter - I believe four pairs - have also turned up in the collection in Qatar.

Sadly the policy of co-operation with private holders of livestock appears not to have worked. In the end commercial interest is prevailing. Unfortunately the Spix's Macaws at Loro Parque have not achieved breeding success. The re-establishment of the species in the wild requires livestock as well as money. Loro Parque has returned Illiger's Macaws for release purposes to Brazil and there is no reason to doubt that had it bred sufficient Spix's Macaws they would have returned some of these as well. It is up to those breeding the species successfully to supply release stock. This is more than a moral obligation. Unfortunately Hämmerli sold his livestock to other Swiss breeders, who are refusing to co-operate, and now De Dios appears to be travelling down the same road. The good news of the successful breeding of Spix's macaws in Brazil - reported on the news page last October - has unfortunately been tempered by the loss of the female adult there. The two young are as yet unsexed.