A critically endangered red-fronted macaw hatched at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo for the first time in 20 years.
Now three months old, the bird has fledged the nest and can be spotted by visitors in the aviary across from the zoo’s Indian one-horned rhino.
There are believed to be less than 800 red-fronted macaws in existence, with the wild population declining due to habitat loss, making this new arrival an important ambassador for the species.
- Edinburgh is now home to five red-fronted macaws: two adult males, two adult females and the chick which is yet to be sexed
- Red-fronted macaws are classed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List
- RZSS is a member of the EAZA Ex-Situ Programme (EEP) for red-fronted macaws which aims to maintain healthy populations of healthy animals and reverse population decline
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