Parrotidae
Birds are not safe from poachers either. Parrots are particularly at risk. They are captured and then sold as pets. One species, the Spix' macaw, is now even extinct. This piece is ours! A few years ago, I was paddling through the jungle of Suriname in a canoe. Suddenly I heard screeching above me. They were macaws, trying to make it clear that this piece of rainforest belongs to
Romance with a sharp edge. Macaws can live up to fifty years, and for the most part they live with the same partner. In fact, many species are monogamous. How romantic! Unfortunately, many macaws do not make it to fifty; humans put a stop to that. In fact, parrots are sought-after birds for the illegal trade.
Coupling attempt. The Spix' macaw is "extinct proof" of that. More than 15 years ago, one heavily guarded Spix' macaw was still alive in the wild, in Brazil. Actually, the species was already extinct then, because one macaw obviously cannot reproduce. To prevent the species from becoming permanently extinct in the wild, a female, who until then had been living in captivity, was released into the forest. In the hope that she and the last wild Spix' macaw would fall madly in love.
Extinct in the wild. But alas. Love cannot be forced even in the parrot world. The wild male was more interested in a female of a different species. So no baby Spix' macaws came. The female died not much later and by 2000 the last male was gone as well. In the wild, the Spix' macaw thus became permanently extinct. About sixty specimens now live in captivity around the world. However, we will never again hear the cries of a pair in the jungle.
The rarer, the more costly. That, of course, is terrible ... and all for money. Back in 1979, a Spix' macaw pair was offered for sale for $20,000. And the rarer the species, the more money it is worth... If we continue like this, parrots will soon be living only in zoos.
