Native tree could save endangered parrot
15 Apr 2008
The Rimu tree could hold the key to saving New Zealand’s endangered kakapo bird.
A scientific discovery reveals that the unripe fruit of the native tree contains chemicals that mimic the action of the kakapo’s sex hormones.
The fruit's chemicals prime the kakapo’s liver into producing more egg-yolk protein, crucial for developing eggs.
Kakapo eat more unripened fruit than usual before crops are ready. Chicks then emerge in time to feed on the fruit at the beginning of the season.
Andrew Fidler of the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, says that by identifying those chemicals, kakapo could be ''tricked'' into breeding more often and more successfully.
Fidler hopes to complete further research into the theory including analysis of the chemical make-up of kakapo food.
Kakapo are one of the rarest birds in the world, with only 91 remaining in New Zealand. The large, flightless parrots breed only every three to five years.
This year has been a successful one for kakapo. Five chicks have hatched with two more expected in the coming weeks. After hatching on Codfish Island, near Stewart Island, the chicks are being hand-reared to increase their chances of survival.
These topics may also be of interest to you
|
