The Kakapo i
any of the flightless native birds of New Zealand have suffered as a result of the introduction into New Zealand of small hunting mammals such as cats, rats and mongoose. The kakapo as a ground-living bird almost became extinct until the last surviving birds were re-located to off-shore islands that had been cleared of predators. The PSUK has assisted by supplying an incubator for hand-rearing baby kakapo. The breeding of kakapo depends on the trees producing rimu fruit providing a good supply.
M 20 BIRD SCENE
No rimu fruit means no young Kakapo! The following report shows the progress being made with this project:- As predicted from rimu fruit counts, there was no breeding in 2010. All 33 of the chicks who fledged in 2009, including the 26 hand-reared chicks, are now free-living on Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) and Anchor Islands. Two of the original Stewart Island birds, Sass, a male, and Sarah, a female, died, reducing the population from 124 to 122. The population shrank again in January of this year
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