The Spix’s Macaw Re-Introcution Project is being initiated to save the rarest parrot in the world ... reintroducing the extinct Spix’s Macaw back into the wild of Brazil.
Carlos Saldahna's two Rio movies are loosely based on the story of the Spix's Macaw.
Both protagonist birds in the movie (Blu and Jewel) are Spix's Macaws.
In reality the last wild bird was discovered in 1990 in Northeast Brazil. At that time there were 37 in the hands of rich international collectors (the antagonists in the movies, portrayed by Nigel, the cockatoo, and his handlers).
In 2000 the "lone male Spix's" disappeared and the species is considered "extinct" in the wild, saved only by the few existing in captivity.
These birds have been consolidated into the hands of three benevolent "Holders" in Qatar, Germany, and the Brazilian Government, and have been bred from only a handful to number over 125 birds.
The Brazilian Government Ministry of the Environment, ICMBio, has designated the Spix’s Macaw Association to be responsible for the reintroduction of the Spix’s Macaw.
The principle parties involved in the creation and execution of the reintroduction project for the Spix’s Macaw are bound by a Technical Cooperation Agreement:
The parties to the agreement are: The Brazilian Government (ICMBio); The Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP, Germany); and Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP, Qatar): Parrots International and Jurong Bird Park. The future of the Spix’s Macaw being returned to the wild rests with the with creation of the Spix’s Macaw Reintroduction Center. The three institutions that hold all Spix’s Macaws in captivity are designation “The Holders”. The Holders (The Brazilian Government, AWWP, and ACTP) will supply all the Spix's for the project release in Brazil.
The release will be newsworthy, even without the fact that the Spix's Macaws are famous. There is no parallel of an extinct bird returning to nature. The closest equivalents would be the California Condor Project (common front page news).
The first reintroduction release into the wild will coincide with the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Spix’s Macaw by explorer Johann von Spix.