World's rarest parrot gets population boost
15 Apr 2008
The hatching of five new chicks has boosted New Zealand’s kakapo population to 91, with two more chicks expected in the coming weeks.
Endemic to New Zealand, the kakapo is the rarest and heaviest parrot in the world.
The eggs hatched in early April on Codfish Island (Whenua Hou), a predator-free sanctuary off the coast of Stewart Island at the bottom of the South Island.
The chicks have been transferred to special facilities in Nelson to be hand reared to optimize their survival chances.
Seven chicks may seem a relatively small birthrate, but the Department of Conservation (DOC) says it's ''fantastic''.
Kakapo recovery team leader Emma Neill says boosting the population from 86 was ''awesome, especially considering these birds only breed every few years''.
DOC staff and volunteers worked around the clock preparing for the chicks to hatch. Volunteers kept a night vigil, camping near nests to ensure the females incubated properly and sometimes covering eggs with heat pads when the birds left to ensure the eggs didn’t go cold.
Neill says further good news is that kakapo eggs this year proved 100 per cent fertile compared with 2005 when the rate was just 58 percent.
Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick says the birth of the chicks reflects New Zealand's international reputation in species recovery programmes.
Kakapo last bred in 2005 when four chicks were produced, but 2002 was a record year with 24 chicks.
Kakapo is an ancient species of nocturnal, flightless parrot. Once found right throughout New Zealand, they are now threatened with extinction due to human impact and predation by a range of introduced mammals.
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