WWF-UK: Hyacinth macaw
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Hyacinth macaw
The pet trade and the trade in feathers devastated many of South America's parrot species, and the huge hyacinth macaw is hanging on to survival by a thread. It has been pushed to the edge of extinction by loss of its very specialist habitat (it lives in and feeds from just a couple of types of tree). But a WWF-funded project has helped pull the species back from the brink in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands; now, funds are needed to help these breathtaking birds spread back through their original range.
Funding generated from Extinct
Funds generated from viewers votes will directly support 80 hyacinth macaw pairs a year and indirectly all hyacinth macaws in the Pantanal. It should also enable the project to broaden its nest monitoring and research work and even expand its range to northern Brazil and Bolivia.
Other species to benefit
The fauna of the Pantanal is extremely diverse and includes 80 mammal, 650 bird, 50 reptile and 400 fish species. Dense populations of jaguar, marsh deer, giant anteater and giant otter are found in the region.
There are 26 species of parrot in the area, which is also an important breeding ground for wetland birds such as Jabiru storks, herons, ibis and ducks.
Programme location
Campo Grande, Pantanal, Brazil
Key issues
Habitat destruction and capture for the pet trade are the two key factors that have led to the macaw's risk of extinction. The species is very sensitive to changes in its habitat. For example, 95% of nests in the Pantanal are in a single type of tree, the manduvi, making them particularly vulnerable to human activities. Populations once numbered hundreds of thousands but now there are just 6,500 in the wild, of which 5,000 are found in just one region of Brazil.
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Related information
For further information about the Hyacinth macaw, including photos and videos, visit the ARKive website.