Images of the iconic blue-and-yellow macaw can be spotted all over Rio de Janeiro. Yet the real thing has been seen so rarely in the Brazilian city that some wondered if it ever really existed there at all.
The French explorer Jean de Léry first described an abundance of the giant, colourful parrots around Indigenous tribes in the 16th century, and the Austrian naturalist Johann Natterer sighted the Ara ararauna in the city in 1818.
After that, the record goes blank. Experts say the species was almost certainly wiped out by deforestation, along with the tapirs, jaguars and peccaries that once roamed the forests surrounding the city.
Now, 200 years later, flashes of blue and gold are once again peppering the forest canopy as biologists bring the species – and the forest – back to life.
“They are so magnificent. It’s no surprise that all the visitors are constantly asking how they can see them,” says Viviane Lasmar, director of Tijuca national park. “For me, as the head of the park, it’s special. But even more so as a carioca [someone from Rio]. It’s a dream come true.”
Tijuca is one of the world’s largest urban parks. Its nearly 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of green canopy cover the steep granite mountains of Rio, closely hugging the city’s concrete limits.
This lush remnant of Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest feels wild and remarkably untouched. But exploitation for commodities such as coffee and charcoal in the 19th century decimated the forest. In what many see as one of the world’s first tropical reforestation initiatives, Emperor Dom Pedro II ordered the replanting of trees in Tijuca in the 1860s, but many species had already been lost. The blue-and-yellow macaw was one of the victims of this deforestation, with its colourful plumage also making it a prized target for wildlife traffickers.
“They probably went extinct [in Rio] due to the wildlife trade and deforestation during the European colonisation here,” says Marcelo Rheingantz, executive director of Refauna, which estimates that two-thirds of large and medium-sized mammals that once lived in Tijuca have also been lost.
But, one by one, these animals are returning to the forest. For the first time in centuries, giant rodents scuttle through the undergrowth, yellow-footed tortoises meander languidly and howler monkeys swing through the trees, their bellowing calls echoing for miles.
Only four macaws have been brought back so far but it sounds like dozens as their aggressive squawks pierce the rainforest canopy. “It’s really beautiful to be putting the forest’s orchestra back together again,” Rheingantz says with a broad grin.
Refauna started restoring the rainforest through its “refaunation” programme, introducing the red-rumped agouti – a long-legged rodent the size of a cat – in 2010, followed by other species that exist elsewhere in Brazil but were extinct in the park. These include the brown howler monkey, which was probably last recorded in Rio in Charles Darwin’s Beagle diaries in 1832, and the yellow-footed tortoise.
All the reintroductions have brought excitement and new visitors to the park but none are as beloved as the macaws. The large parrots, almost a metre in length, which can be found in other parts of Brazil and South America, are famously intelligent and mate with their partner for life. The blue-and-yellow macaw adorns artwork, T-shirts and tote bags across the city and beyond, its colours echoing the country’s national flag.
The hero of the blockbuster film Rio was a plucky macaw trying to save the last of his kind – though Rheingantz is quick to point out it was the Spix’s macaw that is endemic to northeastern Brazil.
“Now we are correcting the story and putting the right species here,” he says, chuckling.
Three females and a male have been brought to the park so far and are currently back in their enclosure for monitoring after being released for 15 days earlier this year. Refauna is planning to release them again in September.
“The release scheduled for September is a significant milestone in the process, though not necessarily the final one. All individuals will continue to be monitored, and recapture may take place if required,” says Rheingantz.
The macaws, Fernanda, Selton, Fatima and Sueli – named after actors in the Oscar-winning film I’m Still Here and characters from the popular Brazilian sitcom Slaps and Kisses – all have distinct personalities, according to the Refauna team, with the mischievous Sueli, who destroys almost everything she touches, a particular favourite.
Another six macaws will soon be brought to the park, and eventually Refauna plans to release 50 of them. The sight of a mosaic of gold and blue sweeping through the skies would be spectacular, but the project is about saving the forest rather than creating a spectacle, says Vanessa Kanaan, director of Instituto Fauna Brasil.
“Reintroducing species is not simply about returning animals to the forest. It is about rebuilding ecological relationships and ensuring that these species can once again perform their ecological roles,” the biologist says.
As with rewilding projects across the world, the Refauna team is constantly surprised by the way bringing back just one species can spark changes that ripple throughout the entire ecosystem. “This is an excellent example,” Rheingantz says as he bends down and picks up a peculiar fruit resembling an avocado.
Joannesia princeps, popularly known as agouti fruit, was the main symptom of “empty forest syndrome”, which sparked Refauna’s inception. The agouti tree drops its fruit as an incentive for animals to eat them and disperse the seed, but without the agouti rodents, the forest floor was carpeted with rotting fruit.
About 90% of the Atlantic forest’s flora rely on animals to reproduce, according to Rheingantz.
By reintroducing species, researchers hope to gradually bring the entire forest back to life. The agouti’s razor-sharp teeth can crack open the toughest of nuts, making them a super seed disperser, while the large droppings of howler monkeys provide moisture and shade for seed germination, which are then rolled up by dung beetles to use as a nursery for their larvae.
In English, the agouti nut is sometimes referred to as the macaw nut – and there are hopes the birds could also help break into some of the forest’s toughest seeds with their powerful beaks. Unlike the agoutis, the macaws can travel tens of kilometres in a day, carrying seeds far and wide.
“They can also help regenerate other forests by taking seeds from Tijuca outside the park,” says Luisa Genes, Refauna’s scientific director.
The success of the macaws will depend on their ability to adapt in the wild. The birds were rescued from captivity and the team has spent months training them for their new-found freedom, encouraging the birds to fly to rebuild their muscles after years spent sedentary in cages, and feeding them native fruits so they learn to recognise them.
The biggest threat to the birds is their beauty: the park receives 5 million visitors a year and their vibrant colours will make them the centre of attention. Macaws are highly social and their time in captivity has made this bunch particularly curious.
Refauna’s team has been trying to discourage them from their old ways by raising red sticks and shouting whenever they engage with people. In recent weeks they covered the enclosure with foliage to stop the birds from gawking at their human companions through the cage.
“Maybe it’s working a little bit?” says Matheus Sette e Camara, a 27-year-old Refauna biologist, sounding rather unconvinced.
They are also educating visitors about the dangers of feeding the birds.
If all goes according to plan, Refauna is looking forward to a time when the skies above the park are once again alive with flashes of blue and yellow.
“The macaw really is a symbol of our efforts to bring life back to Tijuca,” says Rheingantz. “My dream is that one day they will fly far away from here and we will be able to see them from all over the city.”