“AWWP hatches its 50^th Spix’s Macaw”

Spix’s Macaw Chicks Aged 5, 7 and 9 days.	AWWP’s 50th Spix’s Macaw Chick Being Hand-fed Via a Pipette	AWWP’s 50th Spix’s Macaw Chick With a very Full Crop of Hand-Rearing Formula

The Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) is proud to announce the hatching of three Spix’s Macaws in late April. This breeding success has increased AWWP’s Spix’s Macaw population to 50 individuals; now comprising of 20 males, 27 females and the 3 juveniles whose sex is yet to be determined. Since 2004 AWWP has hatched 15 Spix’s Macaws and is confident of breeding more offspring this year. The Spix’s Macaw is one of the most critically endangered species in the world with only captive populations existing after the last wild bird disappeared in 2000. AWWP is part of an international breeding and recovery program managed by the Brazilian Government’s natural resources branch IBAMA. Five institutions in Brazil, Tenerife, Germany and Qatar are home to a current total of 78 Spix’s Macaws which are included in an international studbook. AWWP’s Blue Macaw Coordinator (Ryan Watson) is the primary studbook manager and is assisted by co-studbook keepers Matthias Reinschmidt (Loro Parque-Tenerife) and Onildo Marini Filho (IBAMA). The hope is that sometime in the near future captive bred birds can be used to reestablish the species to its native Caatinga habitat in the North-eastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, located in the Gulf State of Qatar, is privately owned by His Excellency Sheikh Saoud Bin Mohd. Bin Ali Al-Thani and functions as a world class breeding center for rare and endangered species.

AWWP’s 50th Spix’s Macaw aged 30 days

Spix’s Macaw chicks aged 30, 32 and 34 days

Spix’s Macaw chicks aged 44, 46 and 48 days.