Project aims to help save Spix birds from extinction

World Today

Brazil is trying to save a rare bird from extinction. They’re known as the Spix, or little blue Macaw.

The blockbuster film Rio 2 brought the birds to the world’s attention. But the last one to be seen in the wild is believed to have died in the year 2000.

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CCTV’s Stephen Gibbs was given rare access to a project that aims help save the birds from extinction.

More details:

  • First identified in Brazil almost two centuries ago, it was soon avidly hunted by collectors.
  • In the 1980s birds were still being illegally traded, for hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
  • The last known specimen in the wild disappeared in the year 2000.

 

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Photo: Stephen Gibbs

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Photo: Stephen Gibbs

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Photo: Stephen Gibbs