Alagoas curassow

Description

The hog of Alagoas ( Mitu mitu ( Linnaeus,1766) ) is a bird of the family Cracidae,with a glossy black color,similar to a pheasant.It originated from the forests in the northeastern part of Brazil,and more specifically from the areas of Pernambuco and Alagoas (from which it takes its name),but is now extinct in nature;about 130 specimens remain in captivity.The German scholar Georg Marcgrave first identified the hocco of Alagoas in 1648 along the northeastern coast of Brazil.However,in the following years,the opinion about the origin and legitimacy of the bird began to falter,mainly due to the lack of evidence.It was only in 1951 that in the coastal forests of Alagoas,in the north-east of Brazil,this species was rediscovered through the discovery of a female specimen.It was since then that the Mitu mitu began to be identified as a species in its own right.In the forests of São Miguel dos Campos the Mitu mitu was identified,again in 1951.At that time less than 60 birds remained in the wild.Several authors in the seventies brought to light the problem of the increasing destruction of its habitat and the rarity of the species.Despite these measures,the last great part of the forest where Mitu mitu lived was demolished to make room for sugarcane plantations.