SPIX'S MACAW HAS BEEN RETURNED S to live freely in its native Brazil having been extinct in the wild thanks to a remarkable and pioneering international conservation effort.
Named after the German naturalist Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix who first collected a specimen in 1819, the South American parrot's plight began when its homeland in northeast Brazil was destroyed by overgrazing and clearing.
Its fate was then sealed by the fact that its distinctive blue plumage proved irresistible to global bird collectors. By 2000, Spix's macaw was declared extinct in the wild.
This story is from the September 2022 edition of BBC Wildlife.
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This story is from the September 2022 edition of BBC Wildlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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