![]() ![]() Do they really have good prospects? Merton is confident they do. The result was a large batch of chicks, a remarkable breakthrough, but there are still only 86 kakapo in the world. As the breeding season drew nearer, the kakapo rescue team arrived with electronic monitoring equipment, and spent the next months watching nests throughout the long nights. Merton moved all the adult females to Codfish Island. Last year, it became obvious that the rimu were going to produce a large crop of seeds the next autumn. On Maud Island it wasn’t clear what that cue was, but on Codfish island there was no doubt that the birds bred in response to some signal from the rimu tree that alerts them to a coming mast.Īrmed with this new knowledge, the team was ready to swing into action as soon as they spotted signs of masting on Codfish Island. They seemed to be waiting for some special cue. The birds thrived on the extra food, but still wouldn’t breed. The team eventually found that kakapo were especially partial to nuts. ![]() ‘The challenge was to work out a diet and persuade them to eat it,’ says Merton. By 1999, all the kakapo had been successfully moved to two islands - Maud Island, and Codfish Island, both free of rats. If anything other than a kakapo entered the nest, a watcher set off a tiny explosive charge that made a small bang, enough to startle intruders. They laid traps for rats and watched nests 24 hours aday. From now on, the team would manage almost every aspect of kakapo life. The birds had to breed before it was too late and nothing could jeopardize this. ![]() Cats were killing them at an alarming rate. ‘We thought the kakapo was safe then,’ says Merton. It turned out to be a colony of 200 birds and some were breeding. Three years later, Merton’s team finally uncovered signs of kakapo in the south of New Zealand’s Stewart Island. Search parties found 17 more - all old males. Then after years of searching, Merton and a team from the New Zealand Wildlife Service discovered a single bird in a valley in Fjordland in the far south. Before man arrived, their only enemies were predatory birds and the kakapo’s green plumage provided perfect camouflage against the vegetation. Unfortunately, its peculiarities have also made it vulnerable. The kakapo is important because it has combinations of features found in no other bird,’ says Merton, the longest serving member of the National Kakapo team. After mating, the females raise their young alone. ![]() Males gather at an arena to compete for females. ![]()
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