There has been another small 'reshuffle' of birds in the captive population. The proven male of a sibling pair in Germany, which have bred together, has been sent to join a female in Brazil which has laid thirteen infertile eggs so far this year (presumably kept with an infertile male at present but it didn't say so...) This German male is being replaced by a male from Loro Parc. Tenerife. The same German breeder is sending LP a different male in exchange. This German breeder obtained some of the birds kept by the very secretive Swiss breeders(the others went to the Sheik) and has donated part of the money involved in the purchase of 1000 acres(or hectares or whatever) of land at the Melancia Creek Farm where the last wild birds lived. This is as a base for a possible reintroduction scheme in the future. Estimates of captive population of Spix is now (circa) 67. As the Saudi Sheik hold about forty-fifty birds at his Breeding Centre he has the major proportion- about twothirds of the total. The rest are shared in smaller numbers between Loro Parc, Tenerife, one or two breeders in Germany and a few in Brazil.
great update grant. thanks. always interested to know how the effort for this species is going. i always get a little edgy when the bulk of a extinct-in-the-wild species is held outside it home range. i hope to see more bird repatriated and their numbers grow in brazil in the future...
I guess it will happen as the numbers hopefully increase again. But Brazil's own record in 'saving' Spix has been pretty abysmal- a few chicks produced by the private breeders but the Sao Paulo Zoo birds left unsexed/unpaired etc for years on end. They seem to need the skill of some of the foreign aviculturists to achieve more success. The purchase of the tract of land at Melancia Creek(this has already gone through) indicates repatriation/reintroduction is now a serious goal, whereas I don't think it has been before.
Well, they aren't all together.... but I can see what you mean. I believe the large number held by the Saudi Sheik are possibly not all together anyway,- they have a very modern breeding station with tiptop vetinerary care etc and will certainly be aware of the dangers of virus spread etc. At one stage some of the later birds he acquired from the Swiss breeders were to go to a 2nd secret location, possibly in the UK, but there was a security scare and they ended up joining the others in Saudi. I'm not sure how many the German breeder(s) have but it can't be many...
This may sound Bias, But couldn't they go to Chester? They have an Excellent breeding record for parrots and have bred many of the rarer species that other zoos struggle for years to acheive sucess. They recently bred from their pair of Hyancinth macaws. Their chicks kept dying as the parents didn't know what to do with them. Now they have reared a pair to maturity.
I can't imagine that any Spix will be available for any Zoo anytime soon. The only European 'zoo' which has them is Loro Parc Tenerife and they have probably the largest collect of Parrots worldwide. Even there I believe the Spix's are not on display to the public, are kept in an offshow area in specially constructed aviaries with 24 hour secuirity, video monitoring etc. Chester or any zoo couldn't have them on public display- their value is too high,... You know how popular parrots are with thieves. I think they are lucky no one has tried to pinch their HYacinths yet.
Many zoos have suffered Parrot Theft in recent years. I'm not sure though whether the mania for Parrots generally has dropped off a bit now, and with it, the high demand, price etc that encourages thefts of that sort. People have also walked off with Squirrel monleys and marmosets too.
certainly, here in australia we have a wide range of expensive exotic parrots (like lories, macaws, amazons etc) available in aviculture and parrot theft is by no means a rare occurance. however, since exotic mammals are not legally owned by non-zoo licenced individuals, short of the odd "impulse" tamarin or squrrel monkey theft, our zoo animals are fortunately relatively safe. there is just no market for exotics here and any stolen monky could never be taken outside and showed off because everyone would know it was stolen (and that kinda defeats the purpose these people want a pet monkey on their shoulder). herps are increasingly popular here, but again the laws state (other than axolotls) that they must be a native species. as you know we have lots of wonderful native reptiles and frogs, but everyone wants a boa, iguana or a star tortoise like those guys in europe and the states. this has fuelled a massive underground trade in smuggled reptiles in the country (both exotics smuggled in and natives out) and its becoming increasingly probmatic and enouranging zoo theft, since there is a market there for these exotics. anyhow, i agree with grant. no spix's on display. far too valuable!
the spix macaw, orange-bellied parrot and sumatran rhino are just some of the species that make me nervous if i see a post put up about them, i always think of the worst the spix macaw should not go to a zoo anytime soon, at least not for public display. i think loro parcque and other holders should continue their work with this species, including private breeders. the population in brazil should be supported, and maybe the establishment of a satellite population in sunny california, at san diego zoo's avian propogation centre.
Glyn- you shouldn't always think the worst, at least with Spix Macaw. I really think a turning point is in sight now and that numbers will be successfully increased as most of the birds are now in the hands of experienced breeders with the right motives- even if possession of this species still has a great deal of Kudos attatched to it. With planned reintroductions being talked about, they still need is a 'safe' number in captivity(100?) before they start doing it. Maybe they will appear in a few top zoos again one day- I for one would love to see this species, I've not even seen a museum specimen- but that time isn't now... Regarding thefts- there's been a trend in Uk zoos recently for walkthru enclosures so visitors can interact more with small species like lemurs, squirrel monkeys etc. This has led to stupid spontaneous thefts which sometimes make the news, though the animals are often dumped later on. Last year somebody nicked a partgrown penguin chick but that was never found.
adelaide zoo in australia seems to have the most animals flogged on a regular basis, squirrel monkeys, meerkats. melbourne lost a quokka and penguin too. but i think most of these animals were returned
The problem is that in recent years most zoos have tried to make their smaller, harmless animals more accessible to the public, for 'interactive' experiences- and that gives greater opportunities for stealing, even if its on the spur of the moment and the thief doesn't have a clue what to do with his little prize afterwards. Rare parrots were at one time a very lucrative trade, and zoos often suffered deliberate planned thefts, rather different from the above. I'm not sure whether the Parrot trade is still as vigorous or whether its past its peak nowadays-anybody know? Parrots were a sort of 'designer' assessory a few years ago but that may hopefully have faded by now. But a Spix Macaw on public exhibit wouldn't last long I feel, unless surrounded by armed guards 24/7.
UPDATE on the UPDATE. I've just read that in April, 3 more Spix were hatched successfully at the Sheik's breeding centre at Al Wabra in Qatar(not Saudi) This brings their total up to 50 birds exactly, of which they have probably bred 15 themselves. So if before this there were 67(now 70) birds in existence, he has well over three quarters of them....
Get real... Its an incredibly difficult operation to reintroduce birds back into their native environment, especially when they are from several generations of captive- bred birds. They need to get completely fit, adapt to the native climate, learn to eat the native foods, learn to identify predators and other local species, form a pair bond with another bird- and that's all before they can even think about letting them go free from a release aviary.. Once free they've got to learn the area, where there is food and water, where to roost at night, how to avoid predators and electricity powerlines and other hazards, where there are decent trees for nesting in etc etc etc. One wrong move in the wild and the bird has had it(= death). No 2nd chance. With so few birds available, replacements are few and far between. I'd hardly describe any of that as 'popping back' into the wild....
Will they get the population as high as that of the Bali starling and then return them to the wild. That worked and the wild population appears to be rising.
I think they'd need to have a decent-sized captive 'reservoir'- 70 birds isn't nearly enough in my opinion. They only tried to release a bird before because there was still a male living wild and he could have taught any newly released birds how to survive in the wild(food, water, roost sites etc) When he died that option was lost....
