Claire Concannon and Dr Andrew Digby talk about all things kākāpō: that habitat trial and where the birds are now, the next breeding season, and Andrew’s hopes for the future of this iconic manu. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
In July 2023 four male kākāpō were released into the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari – part of a new habitat trial to investigate suitable locations for the growing kākāpō population. But after a further six were introduced, the kākāpō began to wander – beyond the fence. A year on, and several escapes later, what’s been learned? And what’s next for kākāpō in Maungatautari? There are plenty of night-time wanderers in New Zealand that you might expect to come across driving on back roads –...
Coming soon to RNZ Podcasts is the new series Voice of Tangaroa, exploring the state of our oceans, and the extraordinary variety of life that calls it home. Released weekly from Thursday 29 February, you can find the episodes in the Voice of Tangaroa or Our Changing World podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts. Voice of Tangaroa is a joint production between RNZ's Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic. Reporting for this series is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air...
Alison Ballance joins the kākāpō recovery team on Pukenui Anchor Island to hear how the 2021/2022 kākāpō breeding season is going. It's been very quiet on the kākāpō front for the last two years, but this year is another big one for the rare bird. In 2019, the endangered flightless night parrot had its largest breeding season on record, as recounted in the RNZ podcast series the Kākāpō Files and Voice of the Kākāpō. After a rollercoaster ride of successes and setbacks, 72 chicks fledged, tempora...
A deadly fungal disease strikes the kākāpō population on Whenua Hou and the Kākāpō Recovery team calls on New Zealand wildlife vets to help. In April 2019, disaster struck the kākāpō population. There was an outbreak of the deadly fungal disease aspergillosis, which would eventually kill two adult females and seven chicks. But against expectations, veterinary experts were able to nurse many birds back to health. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details...
The youngest kākāpō chick has passed 150 days old, bringing the number of living juveniles to 71 and the overall kākāpō population to 213, in episode 24 of the Kākāpō Files. The kākāpō population has reached a new high of 213 birds, following the largest breeding season on record. This is a significant increase from the 147 birds that were alive at the beginning of the season. The new total includes a record-breaking 71 juvenile birds. Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Team scientist ...
The kākāpō chicks are graduating to being juveniles and only seven birds are still sick with aspergillosis, in episode 23 of the Kākāpō Files. Forty-two of this year's kākāpō chicks have graduated to being juveniles. They pass this milestone when they reach 150 days old. A further 30 chicks will reach the juvenile stage over the coming weeks. Eight kākāpō chicks have been cured of aspergillosis, and will soon be returned to the wild. Daryl Eason from the Kākāpō Recovery Team at the Department of...
Paternity testing has revealed who the top kākāpō dads are, as well as the success of the artificial insemination programme, in episode 22 of the Kākāpō Files. Artificial insemination (AI) of kākāpō has succeeded for the first time in a decade, and the Kākāpō Recovery Team at the Department of Conservation is very happy with the results. Paternity testing has revealed that five eggs were successfully fertilised with inseminated sperm from three males, although two eggs died as early embryos and ...
The kākāpō health crisis is stable, with no further cases of aspergillosis diagnosed, and seven hand-reared chicks have been successfully released in the wild, in episode 21 of the Kākāpō Files. Seven hand-reared kākāpō chicks have been released into the wild on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, where they are doing well. They are the oldest kākāpō chicks from this bumper breeding season. There are currently 72 living kākāpō chicks. There are no new deaths in the aspergillosis disease outbreak which ha...
Kākāpō death toll from aspergillosis rises by one to seven, while nine birds have been given a clean bill of health. Sad and positive news from the frontline of the fight to save kākāpō, in episode 20 of the Kākāpō Files. The death toll from the aspergillosis health crisis in the kākāpō population has risen to seven, but nine birds suspected of having the fungal disease have been given the all-clear. Deidre Vercoe, manager of the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery team, says she is del...
The number of cases of aspergillosis in the kākāpō population continues to rise, with 30 birds on the mainland for testing & treatment. The deaths of Huhana and Merty drop the adult population to 142, in episode 19 of the Kākāpō Files. The number of cases of aspergillosis in the kākāpō population continues to rise. The fungal disease has already caused the deaths of two adult females and three chicks, and it has now been confirmed in a further two adult females and six chicks. Twenty two kāk...
A spate of kākāpō chicks deaths from a fungal pneumonia caused by aspergillosis has DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Team very worried. Two further adult deaths bring the population to 144 birds with 73 living chicks, all in episode 18 of the Kākāpō Files. The fungal disease aspergillosis has caused the deaths of three kākāpō chicks in the past week. This is in addition to an adult kākāpō which died from the same disease just over two weeks ago. The fearsome fungus has the Department of Conservation's Kākā...
The death of Hoki from a fungal infection brings the number of adult kākāpō to 146, while there are 77 chicks. Episode 17 of the Kākāpō Files includes a visit to Anchor Island & all the latest news. There is good news as well as sad news from the kākāpō islands. Hoki, the first hand-reared kākāpō, has died from a fungal infection, while a surprise third nest from the female Solstice boosted overall egg numbers to 252. Of 86 kākāpō chicks that hatched this breeding season, 77 are still alive....
With 75 living chicks and the final three eggs due to hatch this week, the 2019 kākāpō breeding season is set to be the longest on record. The number of living kākāpō chicks has risen to 75, with the final three due to hatch this week. The oldest chicks are already beginning to leave their nests at night although they are still returning to sleep there during the day. Daryl Eason, from the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery team, says that the sex ratio of the first 49 chicks to be tes...
Most of the 72 kākāpō chicks are thriving in wild nests, the males are winding down their booming, and there are 7 fertile eggs still to hatch. Ripe rimu fruits carpet the trees and ground on Whenua Hou and Anchor islands, and most of the 72 living kākāpō chicks are in wild nests, where they are being well-fed by their foster mums. The chicks are putting on lots of weight and are well above average on the kākāpō 'Plunket' charts. Deidre Vercoe, manager of the Kākāpō Recovery Team from the Depart...
Kākāpō chick numbers continue to climb. The latest tally is 64 chicks, including one named Kotahitanga, meaning unity and solidarity. The number of living kākāpō chicks has risen to 64, with plenty more due to hatch in the next few days. Among the chicks is one that hatched early in the morning of Saturday 16 March 2019, the day after the mass terror shooting in Christchurch. The Kākāpō Recovery Team has named that chick Kotahitanga, meaning unity or solidarity. Kotahitanga's mother is eight-yea...
Thirty four kākāpō chicks are putting on plenty of weight in wild nests as the rimu fruit ripens, and 23 chicks are also being hand-reared, in episode 13 of the Kākāpō Files. This year's kākāpō breeding season has broken all records, with 239 eggs laid and more on the way. One hundred and ten eggs are known to be fertile, and a further 10 eggs will have their fertility confirmed in the next few days. Deidre Vercoe, manager of the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Programme, says that ...
Volunteers from around the world are helping the kākāpō team, with tasks ranging from feeding birds and people, looking after the power system on Whenua Hou and studying kākāpō sperm. We meet them in episode 12 of the Kākāpō Files. Volunteers are coming from around the world to help with the largest kākāpō breeding season on record. As the rimu fruit begins to ripen wild kākāpō mothers are being given chicks to look after. And the egg tally has risen to 223, with 53 living chicks - and still mor...
There is a hard-working team of island rangers helping save kākāpō, working day and night, and the chick tally has reached 44, in episode 11 of the Kākāpō Files. Well over 200 eggs have been laid and 46 chicks are alive in the largest kākāpō breeding season on record. It is also the earliest and longest breeding season, and the Kākāpō Recovery Team at the Department of Conservation says the end is not yet in sight. In this episode of the Kākāpō Files we chat with some of the busy island rangers,...
In a world-first for kākāpō conservation, a drone (nicknamed the 'spermcopter') has flown kākāpō sperm across Whenua Hou / Codfish Island - the Kākāpō Files was there for episode 10. In a world-first for kākāpō conservation, the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Team has used a drone to fly the flightless bird's sperm across Whenua Hou/Codfish Island. The sperm, collected from the male kākāpō Arab and Stumpy was flown by the well-nicknamed 'spermcopter' and then used to artificially i...
There is good news from down south, where the endangered kākāpō is having its best breeding season ever. No one is game enough to predict exactly how many chicks might make it to adulthood, but the numbers look promising. Kākāpō Files producer Alison Ballance has just been down to Whenua Hou/Codfish Island to check on the action. There is good news from down south, where the endangered kākāpō is having its best breeding season ever. No one is game enough to predict exactly how many chicks might ...
More than 160 kākāpō eggs have been laid and the first 21 chicks have hatched, but there is also news of the first chick death, in episode 9 of the Kākāpō Files. The record-breaking kākāpō breeding season continues its bumper run. The number of eggs has reached 160, with more due to be laid as some female kākāpō begin to mate a second time. Seventy two of the 160 eggs were fertile, although some have died at the early embryo stage. Twenty one chicks have hatched - and that number increases by th...
The chicks that have hatched are off to Dunedin, the females have started mating again, and there is breeding action on Hauturu, all in episode 8 of the Kākāpō Files. The Kākāpō Recovery team continue to be very busy. Seven... oh no, make that eight already... kākāpō chicks have hatched (and counting) and the first batch are heading to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital to be hand-reared. The females on Anchor Island have begun mating again. And there is now breeding on three kākāpō islands, with Lis...
The first two chicks of the 2019 kākāpō breeding season have hatched and the exciting news keeps coming in, in episode 7 of the Kākāpō Files. The first chicks of the 2019 kākāpō breeding season have hatched. The first kākāpō chick hatched at 8.30pm on the 30th January 2019. Its mother is Waikawa, and its father is probably Horton. It was conceived on Anchor Island and hatched in the incubator room on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island. The second chick hatched mid-afternoon on the 31st January. Its mothe...
Forty eight out of fifty kākāpō females on the southern islands have mated, nesting is well underway and the first AI has been carried out, all in episode 6 of the Kākāpō Files. It's nearly a full sweep on the southern kākāpō islands, with 48 out of 50 females having mated - a record number. All of the females on Anchor Island have nested, and on both Anchor and Whenua Hou the Kākāpō Recovery Team is bringing in eggs for hand rearing, in the hope that females will mate again. The Sperm Team has ...
The most popular kākāpō males will get a chance to do it all over again as the females are encouraged to mate and nest for a second time, in episode 5 of the Kākāpō Files. How are the male kākāpō measuring up in the popularity stakes with the females? Young male Tākitimu is super-stud of the year... so far. And the Kākāpō Recovery Team from the Department of Conservation are going to try a radical approach to making as many kākāpō babies as possible - they'll hand-rear the first batch of chicks ...
Don't count your kākāpō chicks until they hatch, kākāpō leaky homes and lots more kākāpō sex, all in episode 4 of the Kākāpō Files. The 2019 kākāpō breeding season continues at breakneck speed. Nineteen of 21 females on Anchor Island have mated and are starting to nest. Down on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, the action is also hotting up - but there is some disappointing news from Pearl's nest. In episode four of the Kākāpō Files, we find out the truth behind the old saying 'don't count your eggs un...
Kākāpō breeding action really kicked off on Christmas Eve and in episode 3 of the Kākāpō Files we discover it is in full swing. Let's not be coy about this. Lots of kākāpō are having lots of kākāpō sex. And the first eggs of the 2019 kākāpō breeding season have been laid. DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Programme manager Deidre Vercoe couldn't be happier. She says the kākāpō breeding season on Fiordland's Anchor Island got fully underway on Christmas Eve, and is in full swing. More than half of the 21 you...
In episode 2 of the Kākāpō Files we find out that when it comes to kākāpō breeding the early birds are, well, very early. It's the summer solstice, and things are definitely hotting up in the kākāpō world. DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Programme scientist Andrew Digby says there is lots of booming action amongst the male kākāpō on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island. And manager Deidre Vercoe has some breaking news about a pair of early birds, Pearl and Boss. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details...
The kākāpō is one of the world's rarest birds, and in the first episode of the Kākāpō Files we learn about the giant flightless parrot's 'love triangle.' Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
