However, in common with other macaws, in recent years there has been a marked decline in its numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture for the parrot trade.

[8] The historical range of this species is thought to have stretched southwards to include the Argentine provinces of Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa and Misiones.

Hunting for meat, the pet trade and changes in land use are thought to have caused the species to be extirpated throughout its Argentine range by the 1960s.

In the mid-2010s birds were discovered to have colonised Iguazú National Park, and as of 2019 the species appears to have spread further into nearby Parque provincial Puerto Península.

[9] The species is furthermore the subject of a re-introduction programme to Iberá Provincial Reserve in the province of Corrientes by the World Parrot Trust, Aves Argentinas and Fundación CLT (Conservation Land Trust) (and perhaps BirdLife International), which is hoped may promote tourism to the area.