Spix’s macaws soar over a breeding facility project in their native habitat in a rural area of Curaca, Bahia state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. A South African couple is reintroducing the Spix’s macaw to nature through breeding and reintroduction efforts. Despite challenges such as habitat loss, climate change and government disagreements, they are working with local communities to return the bird to its native habitat.
“A dry area only gets rain for a very short period of the year. A drought in that period might go an entire year before you’re going to get your next rain,” said Purchase, a tall and slim 46-year-old. “The animals are adapted to harsh environments, but they are on the edge. Any small increment of change will decimate populations.”
In the face of the changing climate and numerous challenges, at every turn the Purchases have dedicated the better part of their adult lives to breeding Spix’s macaws and reintroducing them into nature. The journey first took the biologists to work with a private collection on an oasis in Qatar. When the birds were sold to a nonprofit organization, the couple moved with them to Germany.
Half of the Spix’s macaws have died, mostly from predation, or disappeared. Now, the remaining ones live within 5 kilometers of the facilities, a compound that includes the couple’s house and a U-shaped flight-and-release cage that’s 47 meters long.