A kakapo parrot with its chick, photographed after the 2012 mating season, PHOTO: Don Merton / AFP / Profimedia Images
New Zealand's flightless and critically endangered kakapo parrot species began breeding last week for the first time after a four-year hiatus, the island country's Ministry of Nature Conservation announced, reports AFP and Agerpres.
There are only 236 kakapo parrots left in the world, birds with green plumage and a chubby appearance, separated into three breeding populations on some of New Zealand's most isolated southern islands.
Among them are 83 females of reproductive age, leading researchers to hope that this year will see the largest number of hatchlings since records began for the conservation programs of the species.
“It's always exciting when the breeding season officially starts, but this year it is awaited with particular interest after such a long break since the previous season in 2022,” explained Deidre Vercoe, director of kakapo conservation operations at the Ministry of Conservation.
“Now that the season has been launched, we expect more matings over the next month and are preparing for what could be the biggest breeding season since this program began 30 years ago,” she added.
Kakapo parrots breed very rarely
This breeding season is the 13th in the last 30 years, as these birds breed once every 2-4 years.
In 1995, the Ministry of Conservation and the Ngai Tahu Maori group launched a conservation program for kakapo parrots, in the context in which the species numbered only 51 birds and was seriously threatened with extinction.
In 2022, 252 specimens were counted, but 16 birds died in the last four years.
“Kakapo are always critically endangered, so we will continue to work hard to increase their numbers,” said Deidre Vercoe.
In the future, this specialist wants conservation efforts to go beyond the issue of bird numbers. “We want to create safe and self-sustaining kakapo populations that thrive and are not content to just survive,” she explained.
Tane Davis, the Ngai Tahi community representative in the program, hopes that kakapo parrots can one day thrive throughout New Zealand's South Island.
The first chicks of the current breeding season should hatch in mid-February.
