Spix's Macaw news

I was told she was moved to the ACTP, but this is second hand information. For sure she is not on Tenerife anymore.
 
I was doing a quick count on the Spix's' in captivity. After the death of Pressley (Summer 2014) there were 90 macaws in the programme. There were 2 births in Brazil, 4 at the ACTP and 6 at Al-Wabra. Which should have given a total of 102 macaws in the programme of April 2015. Even though there have been no announcements of any deaths the last Al-Wabra chick has been named 'Centurion' to celebrate that there are now 100 macaws in the programme. Depending if the last ACTP chick was born before or after Centurion it means one or two macaws have passed away. Taking into account the health situation of the female in Tenerife and that there have been no announcements on her moving my guess is that she has passed away.
 
The latest Spix macaw recovery programme meeting was recently held at Al Wabra . The Brazilian contingent brought 2 macaws with them and returned to Brazil with 2 birds from Al Wabra . ( Source - Al Wabra facebook pages )
 
There is fantastic news from Al Wabra: they hatched 16 (!!!!) spix macaws chicks this breeding season. 16!! The world`s population stands at 110 at the moment. All chicks were handreared, but Al Wabra is "training" young pairs with eggs and chicks of other species, and they have now 3 pairs of SPix macaws who have sucessfully reared Illiger`s macaws. Those pairs will be given the chance to rear chicks of their own species soon.

https://www.facebook.com/awwp.spix/
 
It is indeed a record achievement. I wonder if they are achieving a better sex ratio though, as males are in the minority which will compromise future pairings.
 
This surely is some very good news and it really does look now that the goal of establishing a self-sustaining wild population may become a reality sooner than later and even that by 2017/18 first releases may take place.

It would be nice to have a complete break-down of the population, including those Swiss birds in private hands (... a real bummer they are not cooperating ...).

Apart from Al-Wabra, what was this year's breeding success at ACTP and the Brazil breeding facility?
 
The Spix macaw program is making progress :

"After a very succesful Spix's macaw meeting hosted in Qatar at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in October 2015, that saw the swapping of Spix's macaws between the Brazilian government and Al Wabra in Qatar and ACTP in Germany, where 2016 started with 3 Spix's macaws arriving at Al Wabra and the following day 3 Spix's were sent to ACTP in Germany.
This marks the most succesful stage in the program, where all holders are working together and moving birds around unhindered to ensure the best possible genetic combinations for breeding at the best locations for the individual pairs.
After the great successes of 2015 where 20 chicks were succesfully reared in the program, we are moving forward quickly now and preparing the next steps to have everything in place when the time comes to start releasing Spix's back into the wild. The new breeding seasons are starting and we hope for a new record season as we continue to move forward with the hopes of saving the species.
Due to the exchange, we now have an equal number of males and females and the genetic matches setup are with hopes of a great future ( FB )".
 
The 2015 record of 16 chicks - at Al Wabra - was broken yesterday by the same collection when the 17th young of 2016 hatched ! Congratulations to Al Wabra !
 
Why would they do that? They are focusing on reintroduction and Al-Wabra. Plus there are Spix's Macaws in Europe. Germany and Switzerland to be more specific.
 
DDcorvus said:
Why would they do that? They are focusing on reintroduction and Al-Wabra. Plus there are Spix's Macaws in Europe. Germany and Switzerland to be more specific.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the target and focus is to make the existing captive-breeding populations robust to produce the next generations' who will be part of the to be reintroduced 'wild" population(s).

The very fact they have gone beyond that magical number recently, makes the reintroduction prospects even more likely and realistic for the none too distant future! :)
 
I dont think Brazil is ready for such a reintroduction, I think it will take a long time till this really will be possible. The smuggling of wildlife is still very present and one of the most rentable business/jobs you can even "get" in the country (after be politician of course) and the laws are not inforced and even may get weaker soon.
 
vogelcommando said:
Due to the exchange, we now have an equal number of males and females and the genetic matches setup are with hopes of a great future ( FB )".
Click to expand...

As the population was heavily skewed to females previously, just a few years ago in fact, I wonder where all the extra females are held nowadays.?Some holders must still have the surplus females and so an imbalanced sex ratio.
 
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