Brazil โฃPoliceโ Investigate Breeding Centerโข Amid Virus Threat to Criticallyโค Endangered Spix’s โขMacaw
Brazilian โคfederal police raided โthe Spix’sโค Macaw Breeding Centre as part โขof “operation Blue Hope,” seizing cellphones and computers, authorities announced today. The investigation centers โonโ concerns thatโค the โcenter failed to implement biosafety protocols, โคpotentiallyโ contributing to theโ spread of circovirus – a disease causing beak and featherโข diseaseโ inโ parrots – among โthe remaining Spix’s macaws.
Theโ ICMBio, Brazil’s โคChico Mendesโ Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, has leviedโค a 1.8 million real ($587,000) fine against โคthe breeding center. The probe could leadโค to charges relatedโ to spreading a disease harmful toโฃ wildlifeโฃ and obstructing environmental inspections.
The Spix’s macaw isโฃ considered nearly extinct in the wild, with conservation effortsโ elaborate โby institutional conflict and โขconcerns over illegal trading. Theโ breeding center, a partner of โคthe German Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) – wich holdsโ roughly โ75% of โคthe world’s registered Spix’s macaws – has faced scrutiny forโค resisting a court order in October to recapture and releaseโข macawsโ into their native habitat.
While the โbreeding center reports only โfive โof 103 macaws under its care haveโข tested positive forโค circovirus, โคarguing the species exhibits greater โขresistance than other parrot populations, ICMBio maintains โฃit utilized rigorous testing methods, acknowledging interpretationโ of results is “not simple.”
the investigation follows Brazil’s 2024 termination of its โขpartnership with โACTP โafter theโข association sold 26 Spix’s macaws to a private zoo in India without โBrazil’s consent. Brazil has repeatedly voicedโค concerns to Cites (Conventionโฃ on โขInternational Trade โin Endangered โคSpecies โof Wild Fauna and Flora) regarding loopholes enabling theโค sale ofโ captive-bred Spix’sโ macaws โคand driving โdemand for the vulnerable species. The plight โขof the Spix’s macawโ gained international attention through theโ animated film Rio, which depicts the โฃspecies’ struggle for survival.
