Four Lear’s Macaw chicks raised at São Paulo ZOO

ZOOs and birdparks

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It took 29 years to breed the rare blue macaw at São Paulo ZOO. In the last year, the institution raised the first chick. In this year, four babies have been bred so far. Two were hatched in February, the rest in April. All four young birds were offspring of the same breeding pair which is sitting on the third clutch of this year now. Babies are being raised artificially by zookeepers. The news was firstly published by Brazilian TV Globo 1 .

The young Lear’s Macaws got their names. Those hatched in February are Benicio and Benedict, the others from April are Benjamin and Flora. The first bred chick from the last year got its name from the visitors – Teobaldo. São Paulo ZOO has been breeding this species for 30 years. The first bird become part of the bird collection in 1986. However, it took next 10 years to get more birds and create a breeding group. At this moment, there are 12 Lear’s Macaws kept at São Paulo ZOO. The institution is a member of Lear’s Macaw conservation breeding project managed by CEMAVE.

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Most of babies are raised at Loro Parque and Al Wabra

Lear’s Macaws are one of the rarest parrots kept in captivity. Unfortunately, they are also still being smuggled time to time. The wild population counts about 1360 individuals. The conservation breeding project includes 133 birds in total, which come from Brazil, Qatar, Spain, Germany and Czech Republic.

The plan of Brazilian government is to set up 26 breeding pairs. Their offspring is going to be released to the wild, especially in the region of Boqueirão Oz, where two isolated populations are found. Two most successful institutions in breeding of the Lear’s Macaw are Loro Parque Fundación and Al Wabra. Both organizations have already sent several birds to Brazil to reinforce local captive population.

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Title photo: (c) TV Globo 1

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