Brazilian police said Wednesday they were probing the outbreak of a lethal virus among some of the last Spix's macaws, one of the world's rarest birds -- made famous as the blue parrot in the 2011 animated film "Rio."

Until recent efforts to rewild the endangered species, the Spix's macaw had not been seen in its natural habitat for 25 years. Its conservation has sparked tensions between private breeders and the government.

In 2020, a group of the birds was brought from Germany under a program to reintroduce them to their natural habitat in northeastern Brazil.

Last week, Brazil's conservation agency, ICMBio, said all 11 surviving Spix's macaws that had been released to the wild tested positive for the incurable circovirus, which is considered deadly.

Another 20 in captivity were also

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