If you watched the 2011 animated film ‘Rio’, you would remember the blue Spix’s Macaw bird named Blu, which happened to be the last living male of his species, flew all the way from Minnesota to Rio de Janeiro to met Jewel, the last living female of the species.
The film happily ends with Blu and Jewel fell in love and had a baby together—saving their species from extinction.
Unfortunately, it didn’t end that beautifully in real life as a new study by BirdLife International revealed that several bird species have lost their fight for survival—including the Spix’s Macaw.
Now officially classified as extinct in the wild, Spix’s Macaw is reportedly one of the eight species that have been added to a list of confirmed or highly likely extinction. Other birds include the poo-li, the cryptic treehunter, the Pernambuco pygmy-owl and more.
The beautiful birds are now extinct in the wild.
“The last known individual Spix’s macaw in the wild disappeared in 2001, but searches have been ongoing since then and it is only now that we feel confident enough to classify it as extinct in the wild,” said Stuart Butchart, the co-author of the report.
According to the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots in Germany, Spix’s macaw is the rarest parrot species in the world. After ongoing searches, the parrots are now considered extinct in the wild, but luckily some of the birds survive in breeding programs.
However, not all attempts to breed endangered species in captivity have succeeded.
With the news of extinction, we might not be able to see the lovely blue Spix’s Macaw anymore if there’s a third Rio movie in the franchise.
Credit: Happiest | ABC News AU
