Wednesday, March 26, 2008

WELCOME TO KAKAPO-LAND!

Conservation History


• 1891: Richard Henry is appointed to save the Kakapo. He moves 200 Kakapo to Resolution island but stotes manage to get onto the island and the Kakapo on the island are wiped out in 6 years.
• 1903: The NZ government moves three Kakapo to Little Barrier Island. Sadly, the three are never seen again.
• 1920's: Kakapo are now extinct in the North Island and numbers are decreasing in the south.
• 1950's: The NZ government starts sending regular expeditions to find more Kakapo.
• 1970: Conservationists find the last Kakapo in the South Island. He is a male. They name it after Richard Henry.
• 1977: The first expedition that they send to Stewart island finds 200 Kakapo but some of them get eaten by cats.
• 1982-97: Stewart island Kakapo get moved to predator free islands.
• 1989: Kakapo recovery plan established.
• 2005: Little Barrier Island and Mana Island are replaced with Chalky and Anchor Islands as Kakapo sanctuaries.

The map above shows that once there was a lot of kakapo all over NZ. Now there are only 86 on four small islands.

Mating


The Kakapo have a mating system called a Lek system. All the males will come to the traditional mating grounds in summer around once every 4 years. At the mating grounds, every male will try to get a nest shaped like a bowl. The male kakapo then does some housekeeping. He plucks the bowl free of any plants and builds a path that leads up to the nest. The path can be up to 50 meters long and helps the female find her male. Here is a picture.



The male sits next to the bowl(nest) and booms into it. The bowl causes the sound to project out in to the forest. The boom can be heard up to 5km away depending on the shape and size of the bowl. When a female hears the boom, she goes down the track to where the male is booming. At the nest, the male does a type of dance where he walks backwards and does a little spin. His girlfriend is impressed by his singing and dancing skills and so the mating occurs.

The Kakapo is the only living parrot that mates using a Lek system.

The two Richard Henrys!

Richard Henry was a New Zealand conservationist and reserve manger who became an expert on flightless birds, especially the Kakapo. He came to NZ and got the the job as the head caretaker on Resolution island. He held this position for 14 years. He died in 1929 from a heart failure.

Richard Henry is also a bird. The most important kakapo to ever be found. Early kakapo breeding programmes went badly because male kakapo had poor quality sperm. After a long hunt through the high crags of Fiordland, conservationists found what they were looking for. A new male bird with good healthy sperm. This revived the kakapos hope of survival.

Below is a movie trailer for a new movieabout this search Code of the Kakapo.

Why is the Kakapo endangered?


1. Maori and English settlers brought new predators to New Zealand which ate the kakapo.
2. They cannot fly therefore they are easily caught.
3. Predators can find them easily because Kakapos have a strong smell and when they boom the predators can hear them.
4. The males do not live with the chicks so when the females go hunting the chicks are left by themselves. This makes it easy for even smaller animals to eat Kakapo.
5. More males survive to adulthood than females.
6. Kakapo only breed (on average) once every four years.
7. Maori ate them and used their feathers for capes

How is the Kakapo being saved?

In 1989 the Kakapo Recovery Group established a Kakapo recovery plan. The first action was to move all Kakapo to safe islands for them to breed. The islands chosen were Maud, Codfish, Anchor and Chalky. Kakapo only breed years when the Rimu trees produces protein rich fruit and seeds but there are other fruits seeds or nuts that can help Kakapo breed.

These are:

Apples
Sweet potato
Almonds
Brazil nuts
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts

When these foods were supplied not only did it help them breed the number of females born was equal to the males. This is unusual because usually there is more males born than females. Breeding more females is important because there is not many females and every male needs a mate.

The Kakapo Recovery Group carefully looks after every bird. Every one of the 86 kakapo has a name and a tag. The picture below shows a member of the recovery program working with a bird.

How can you help?



After reading this did you just think “so what” or do you want to help? If you do want to help:

Go to www.kakapo.co.nz or contact the Royal Forest and Bird protection society.

The best opportunity for individuals to help the Kakapo Recovery programme is through financial support. Saving endangered species is an expensive business.
Like to know how your donation can help us?
• $100 buys disease screening for one bird
• $250 buys a radio tracking aerial
• $1000 buys a portable incubator
• $1600 buys a radio tracking receiver
• $8000 buys a forced air incubator
If you are interested in making a donation to the Kakapo Recovery Programme, you can:

To Make a Donation to the Kakapo Recovery Programme:
You can mail a cheque, with your name and address, directly to:

The Kakapo Recovery Programme
c/- PO Box 631
Wellington
New Zealand
Please ensure you include your name and address so we can send you a donation receipt. Your donation may be tax deductible - it certainly is in New Zealand for individuals, if over $5.00.

ADULTS can also volunteer for two weeks of hard outdoor work on our Kakapo Recovery Program. You'll be doing many things, including keeping watch over chicks while mothers are out feeding. You need to be keen and fit and willing to come and live on one of our island sanctuaries in the South Island. To find out more send an e-mail to kakapovolunteers@doc.govt.nz