Two births of endangered species at the Mulhouse zoo

A baby crested macaque and a baby hyacinth macaw were born in November at the Mulhouse Zoological Park (Haut-Rhin). Both species are threatened with extinction.

Zoo births are always an exciting time. And Mulhouse is no exception to the rule. The Haut-Rhinois zoological park is delighted with the arrival of two new residents in November 2024. The opportunity to know a little more about the species.

At the beginning of November, a long-tailed macaw was born at the park’s hatching house. “Faced with the difficulties of natural incubation of eggs for the couple of hyacinth macaws during the last layings, the team of caretakers decided to collect the egg laid on October 15“, specifies the park. After hatching, the chick was placed in the nest with its two parents, who “take care of it very well“.

It will soon have its distinctive blue color. The hyacinth macaw, native to the Amazon, is one of the largest parrots in the world.

The hyacinth macaw is classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Its extinction in the wild is caused by human activity: its habitat is destroyed and the species is poached. There are estimated to be 4,300 left in the wild.

On November 30, the arrival of a crested macaque can be described as exceptional. The species is classified as critically endangered. We would count fewer than 10,000 in their original environment, an island in Indonesia, with 80% of the total population having disappeared since the 1990s.

This baby is the offspring of two macaques from the park, Malina, a 5-year-old female who arrived in March 2024, and Elias, an 18-year-old male since June 2020. This is the only birth of the year in France for this species, according to the park.