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Endangered parrot that inspired ‘Rio’ dies

Endangered parrot that inspired ‘Rio’ dies

Rio

A rare blue parrot that was said to have inspired the story for the animated film Rio died in captivity last week, as detailed in a report by National Geographic.

The bird was named Presley and is a Spix’s macaw, a species of Brazilian parrot that was made critically endangered after years of deforestation in the country. Now there are less than 100 of these birds left in captivity and it is suspected that none are still living in the wild. Presley’s death was an especially devastating blow, the Nat Geo report says, because Presley was one of only two Spix’s macaws that were wild-born. What’s more Presley himself had no offspring and it died of an irregular heartbeat at the age of 40. According to Wikipedia, the average macaw can have a lifespan of up to 80 years.

While it’s not confirmed that Presley specifically inspired the story to Rio, Director Carlos Saldanha said in an interview that he wanted the rarest bird around to be profiled as to hopefully raise awareness for endangered species. However, the story behind this specific Spix’s macaw is not unlike that of Rio itself. Presley was likely smuggled out of Brazil in the ’70s and was in 2002 found as a pet in Colorado, unable to fly and eventually returned to Sao Paulo, Brazil, presumably complete with Latin music festivities and other shimmying, talking animals.

Read the full Nat Geo story and see a photo of Presley the Spix’s macaw here.

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