PARROTS
IN LATE summer 2023, Dr Erica Pacifico in Brazil shared some excellent news. A pair of Lear's macaws (Anodorhynchus leari) bred at the Loro Parque Fundacion breeding centre in Tenerife, Spain, and released into the wild in Brazil in 2019, has successfully bred for the second year in a row.
Dr Pacífico, of the Lear's Macaw Research and Conservation Group (GPCAL), is leading the release project in Brazil to establish a viable population in natural habitat at a site called Boqueirão da Onça, in the arid caatinga zone.
Loro Parque Fundación (LPF) has a pivotal role in the project and has contributed nearly $600,000. In 2006 the LPF joined the Lear's Macaw Conservation Committee and received on loan from the Brazilian governmentmaturity to date. All the adults and offspring belong to Brazil, and the first repatriation came in 2016, when LPF sent nine Lear's to be socialised with others in Brazilian institutions. During 2019-21, we sent three more other Committee institutions and repatriated another nine for release at Boqueirão da Onça.
