Kakapo Society Information

KAKAPO

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FACTS

THEN AND NOW

Kakapo Society Information

The kakapo is a unique bird The kakapo is one of the rarest parrots in the world:

• It’s flightless
• It’s the world’s heaviest parrot
• It's possibly the oldest living bird and
• It has a subsonic mating boom that can travel several kilometres

Sealers Bay

The kakapo can only be found in New Zealand and every year countless people from around the world - dozens of hard working volunteers - give their time and energy trying to save the kakapo from the brink of extinction. Most of the Kakapo Recovery takes place on remote, predator-free islands off southern New Zealand.

When it comes to unique birds, the kakapo is king. It holds several world records:  It's the heaviest parrot in the world

• It's possibly the longest-lived bird species in the world; the low adult mortality rate suggests a mean life expectancy of 90 years
• It's flightless
• It's the only parrot that has a 'lek' breeding system

Whenua Hou, or Codfish Island, is a large, bush-covered island about 3km off the wild west coast of Stewart Island. It provides kakapo with a 1400ha home that is very similar to their original habitat of Stewart Island, and is now the centre for kakapo recovery in New Zealand. When kakapo were originally moved to Whenua Hou, it was inhabited by rats, which can threaten kakapo eggs and chicks. Since the 1980s all predators have been progressively removed, culminating in a huge rat eradication programme in 1998. The rat eradication means that Whenua Hou is now an ideal long-term home for kakapo. This was dramatically illustrated by the phenomenal breeding event of 2002, when 24 chicks were added to the kakapo population in a matter of months. Three kakapo staff work on Whenua Hou, and have to put up with an isolated location and the wild weather of New Zealand's deep south. It has no roads and is reached by light plane or helicopter. The island is a specially-protected nature reserve, and no unauthorised landing is permitted.

When it comes to unique birds, the kakapo is king. It holds several world records:  It's the heaviest parrot in the world

• It's possibly the longest-lived bird species in the world; the low adult mortality rate suggests a mean life expectancy of 90 years
• It's flightless
• It's the only parrot that has a 'lek' breeding system

Whenua Hou, or Codfish Island, is a large, bush-covered island about 3km off the wild west coast of Stewart Island. It provides kakapo with a 1400ha home that is very similar to their original habitat of Stewart Island, and is now the centre for kakapo recovery in New Zealand. When kakapo were originally moved to Whenua Hou, it was inhabited by rats, which can threaten kakapo eggs and chicks. Since the 1980s all predators have been progressively removed, culminating in a huge rat eradication programme in 1998. The rat eradication means that Whenua Hou is now an ideal long-term home for kakapo. This was dramatically illustrated by the phenomenal breeding event of 2002, when 24 chicks were added to the kakapo population in a matter of months. Three kakapo staff work on Whenua Hou, and have to put up with an isolated location and the wild weather of New Zealand's deep south. It has no roads and is reached by light plane or helicopter. The island is a specially-protected nature reserve, and no unauthorised landing is permitted.

The history of the kakapo is a story of drama, despair and hope. A ground-dwelling parrot that lived on the isolated landmass of New Zealand for thousands of years, the kakapo evolved into one of the world's most remarkable birds. But with human colonisation, and the introduction of predators such as stoats, cats, rats and dogs, the species plummeted towards extinction. By 1995, there were only 50 known kakapo surviving, on a handful of small island sanctuaries. Today, with a world population of 120 and a comprehensive Kakapo Recovery Programme underway, the kakapo is on its first tentative steps to recovery.