Endangered animals from Brazilian fauna to be repatriated

The Brazilian government on Tuesday (Aug. 22) launched an operation to repatriate 29 lear’s macaws (Anodorhynchus leari) and seven golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia). The animals were seized in Suriname in July and will be brought to Brazil, where they are native.

A federal police aircraft is expected to transport the animals sheltered in individual niches, under the supervision of veterinarians and specialists from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the national environmental authority Ibama. They are likely to arrive in Brazilian territory on Wednesday (23).

With a small population in the wild, the two species are mostly found in conservation units and are classified as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

The golden lion tamarins will be sent to the Guarulhos Municipal Zoo in São Paulo, where they will be quarantined and undergo behavioral and health assessments before being integrated into the management program for the species, in institutions outside their natural environment, ensuring the safety of their population.

The lear’s macaws will also be quarantined and examined at the Cananéia Quarantine Station, on the south coast of São Paulo. Their next destination will be the management program, which aims to reintroduce the species into the wild.