Species in Peril:
KAKAPO
A flightless bird with attitude
Characteristics
These flightless birds, which may grow up to 64 cm (25 in) in length, have finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinctive facial disc, large gray beak, short legs, enormous blue feet, and comparatively small wings and tails. This combination of characteristics makes them unique among parrots.
It is the heaviest parrot in the world, the only one without wings, nocturnal, herbivorous, physically sexually dimorphic, has a low basal metabolic rate, and lacks male parental care.
The only parrot with a polygynous lek breeding strategy is this one. It may also be among the longest-living birds in the world, with a claimed lifetime of up to 100 years.
Prehistoric Habitat
The kakapo was dispersed across both of New Zealand’s main islands before people arrived. It may have lived on Stewart Island / Rakiura before humans arrived, but it hasn’t been discovered yet in the region’s rich fossil collections. kakapo resided in a range of environments, such as tussocklands, scrublands, and coastal regions. Additionally, it lived in beech, tawa, and rt woods as well as those dominated by podocarps (rimu, mata, kahikatea, and ttara).
The term “kakapo gardens” came into use in Fiordland to describe regions of avalanche and slip debris with regenerated and profusely fruiting plants, including five finger, wineberry, bush lawyer, tutu, hebes, and coprosmas. The kakapo is regarded as a “generalist in habitats.” They used to be able to survive in almost every climate in the islands of New Zealand, but they are now restricted to areas that are free from predators. They endured severe winters in the sub-alpine regions of Fiordland as well as dry, hot summers on the North Island.
Although the species did not live only in forests, kakapo appear to have preferred broadleaf or mountain beech and Hall’s ttara forest with moderate winters and considerable rainfall. All of the kakapo that were moved to islands without predators in recent decades have adapted well to any changes in their environment and food sources.
In need of help!
The kakapo is critically endangered; there are 252 live, identified, and tagged individuals in the total known adult population. They are restricted to four small islands off the coast of New Zealand that have been purged of predators. Since the early Mori overhunted the already-rare kakapo, the introduction of predators like cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats after British colonization nearly drove it out.
Conservation efforts started in the 1890s but were not very successful until the Kakapo Recovery Programme was put into place in 1995, a century later.
A Few More Facts About Cheetahs
- Lives up to 100 years in the wild
- About 2 feet tall
- Called a flightless parrot
- Was always only found on New Zealand
- It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage
- New Zealand’s largest endemic parrot
- Kakapos freeze when startled
- Its Latin name translates to something like “owl-face soft-feather.”
Species Name
Panthera pardus orientalis
Estimated Population
252
Conservation Status
Critically endangered
Range
New Zealand
Reasons for Population Decline
Habitat loss
Overhunting
Predators
