FEATURE in New Zealand


(2011) when the veteran “Richard Henry”, the oldest kakapo in the world, was found dead. He was believed to be at least 80 years old. Discovered in Fiordland in 1975 he was transferred to the off-shore islands where he made a substantial contribution to the growth of the kakapo population there. He spent his last years wandering around Whenua Hou. Although there was no breeding in 2010, it has been an eventful and busy year with 33 fledglings to monitor, the premature failure of 26 transmitters and the accidental dropping of a sling-load of rat poison from a helicopter onto Anchor Island.


Demographics


The population of 121 birds consists of 65 males and 56 females (78 adults and 43 juveniles under 6 years old). The female population has reduced by one to be four short of the population milestone of 60 identified in the recovery plan. Sarah is only the second Stewart Island female to have died on a predator- free, offshore island in 28 years, and the first adult female death in 19 years.


Distribution


The population is currently divided between Whenua Hou and Anchor Islands


On the basis of the fruit count data and numbers of females on each island up to 19 nests are expected on Whenua Hou and up to 7 on Anchor. This will be the first time that nesting on two islands at the same time will be managed. In order to reduce the expense and logistical difficulty of deploying human nest-minders some of these will be replaced with “electronic nest-minders”; modified Snark data loggers that will tell us when, and for how long, females have been away from the nest.


BIRD SCENE 21


Whenua Anchor Hou


Females 33 Males Total


41 74


Island Total 23 24 47


56 65


121


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