Rare kākāpō star to make flying Auckland visit
14 Aug 2009
Sirocco, the pin-up boy and darling of New Zealand’s high profile conservation efforts with the endangered kākāpō parrot population, is about to take off for somewhere he’s never been before - the big city.
A superstar in conservation circles, Sirocco will leave his remote island sanctuary off the southern New Zealand coast next month to make a rare public appearance at Auckland Zoo to celebrate Conservation Week (13 - 20 September 2009).
A juvenile in parrot years, 12-year-old Sirocco is one of only 124 surviving kākāpō. Found only in New Zealand, the flightless kākāpō is among the world’s rarest and most at risk bird species.
Once in a lifetime
Organisers say the Auckland Zoo visit will be a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" for city dwellers to view a kākāpō - the world’s largest parrot - in person.
As kākāpō are nocturnal creatures, the zoo is planning special late night tours during Sirocco’s two-week visit from 14 - 23 September.
Sirocco - described as an extraordinary and charismatic bird - was hand-reared by the kākāpō recovery programme that is crucial to his species survival.
The recovery programme made headlines around the world this year due to a spectacular breeding season which increased the precarious population from below 100 to 124.
Protected life
Opportunities to view kākāpō are few and far between as the existing kākāpō population lives a protected life on an isolated predator-free island sanctuary, in New Zealand’s far south.
Access to the sanctuary is restricted to conservation officers, scientists and volunteer workers involved in the world-leading recovery programme.
However, Sirocco - who unlike the rest of his species is not involved in the breeding programme - leads a more public life as the face of the kākāpō recovery programme.
Kākāpō Encounter - Ulva Island
Each September, Sirocco makes a month-long pilgrimage to Ulva Island - another island sanctuary near Stewart Island - where small groups of admirers are able to visit him.
Sirocco will fly from Auckland to join the Kākāpō Encounter on Ulva Island from 26 September - 26 October 2009.
Encounters, which depart each evening from Stewart Island’s Halfmoon Bay Wharf, attract visitors from all over the world.
The guided tour includes a boat trip through Paterson Inlet to Ulva Island, and a walk to Sirocco’s enclosure where he can be observed close-up.
Proceeds from the kākāpō tours support the Ulva Island Charitable Trust which assists with restoration and infrastructure work on Ulva Island, a predator-free bird sanctuary.
Ulva Island is home to many rare native birds including Stewart Island robins, weka, tui, fantails, kākā, kākāriki, kereru, kiwi, riflemen, mohua, little blue and yellow-eyed penguins, and South Island saddlebacks.
Background: Kākāpō
The kākāpō, a large, flightless, nocturnal bird is the world’s rarest parrot.
Once prevalent throughout New Zealand, kākāpō now live only on predator-free Whenua Hou / Codfish Island, under the care of the Kākāpō Recovery Programme.
Before the arrival of man, these remarkable parrots roamed the forests and mountains of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland where their only enemy was a giant, and now extinct, eagle.
Traits which made the kākāpō unique also became its undoing - the magnificent plumage, strangely sweet smell, and inability to fly rendered the kākāpō vulnerable and attractive. Māori hunted the kākāpō for its feathers and meat, and Pakeha / European settlers introduced stoats, cats, possums and rats.
The kākāpō population was soon devastated, dwindling from thousands to a few dozen. In the 1950s, a group of New Zealanders began efforts to save this remarkable species from extinction.
The kākāpō is the only parrot that breeds by a lek system. In the years when rimu trees fruit, the male kākāpō creates tracks and depressions in the earth. He fusses over his creation, using his beak to carefully manicure the grass along his tracks, and removing any pebbles or sticks.
He then uses his bowl as an amphitheatre from where he booms / calls through the forest. When a female kākāpō is attracted by the booming, the male stretches its wings and dances for her.
More information:
Kākāpō ’09 season ends on record high
Early bird special offers rare kākāpō encounter
Kākāpō chicks make safe return
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