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News from Loro Parque, Tenerife - April 2010
Our Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) which hatched on the 11th of March and is hand-reared is developing beautifully and with 35 days of life now weights 258g.
The 22nd of March was a memorable day, because for the first time two young animals, that were bred in the Loro Parque Foundation, returned to their home country Brasil, to be paired with the appropriate partners from the zoos of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte. This event occurs within the breeding programmes for the Spix's Macaw, extinct in the wild and the endangered Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). Thus the Curator of the LPF, Dr. Matthias Reinschmidt, was accompanied by one of the Ambassadors of the Loro Parque Foundation, the famous German showmaster and presenter, Frank Elstner. After the birds had arrived safely into the state quarantine of São Paulo, Dr. Reinschmidt and Mr. Elstner, accompanied by a German television crew of the SWR which is filming a documentary for the first German television channel (ARD), continued traveling to look for some history and "traces" and at the same time to visit the parrot conservation projects, financed by the LPF.
In the Caatinga they visited the former habitat of the Spix's Macaw, and the breeding cliffs and feeding areas of the Lear's Macaw. They were able to observe flocks with up to 150 Lear's Macaw. After that the trip took them to the Pantanal, the largest swamp area of the world, and the retreat of the Hyacinthine Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus). Here among the many blue macaws they also observe many other parrots and birds as well as many mammals and caimans. The 90-minute documentary of the trip will be broadcast at the end of the year on the first German television channel.
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Dr. Matthias Reinschmidt (left) and Frank Elstner (right) during
the transport of one Spix's Macaw and one Lear's Macaw to Brasil
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After arriving in São Paulo the two Macaws had to be removed from their transport boxes to be removed in plastic transport boxes with special filters
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In mid-March, the President of the Loro Parque Fundación, Wolfgang Kiessling, and the biologist Rafael Zamora, represented the Loro Parque Fundación in Doha, the capital of Qatar, at the triennial international Conference of the Parties CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) – COP15. The Loro Parque Fundación was represented there among other numerous conservation organizations and government representatives from over 150 countries around the world. The most important negotiation point for all participants was to preserve biodiversity of our planet. The LPF is always consulted in this regard because of its many conservation projects for endangered species and broad experience.
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Young Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) at 34 days of life
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Rafael Zamora at the CITES Conference forum in Qatar
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Up to the end of March 254 young parrots has already been ringed in the LPF, and therefore the breeding year has had a very promising start, because of the numbers being much higher than last year.
The 7th International Parrot Convention from the 22 to the 25th September 2010 will be again the most important event of the year in the "World of Parrots". The programme, all necessary information and the registration formalities can be obtained from the corresponding Coordinator of your Country or on the website www.loroparque-fundacion.org.
Dr. Matthias Reinschmidt, Curator,
Loro Parque Tenerife
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