The Kakapo Parrot.

The Kakapo is unlike any other parrot. It cannot fly. It is a night animal and it does not run or fight predators. Hundred years ago these were very common in New Zeeland. Today they are extinct from the Island.

Found only in New Zealand, the kakapo is not closely related to any other member of the parrot family.

The kakapo is the worlds heaviest and only flightless parrot. They are up to 60 cm long and weigh up to 3.5 kilograms (8 lbs.). It has a virtually keel-less sternum which makes it incapable of flying in the true sense: it can only 'parachute' from trees using its wings for balance and braking. It is nocturnal, solitary and secretive. It lives mainly on the ground but can climb trees.

A few thousand years ago, the first Polynesian people came and decimated the population through hunting the kakapo as well as chopping and burning down the forests the birds lived in. They also brought the Polynesian rat, 'kiore', as well as various other mammals.

The situation became far worse when Europeans arrived 150 years ago. Huge areas were cleared for farms, and they brought predators such as ferrets, cats, stoats, rats, and dogs which killed the kakapo easily, because the parrot does not recognize them as dangerous. Why The kakapo had lived for thousands of years without mammals around. The parrots did not have to avoid those kinds of predators. They became flightless, as there was nothing to fly and escape from. Now, their flightless ness renders them almost defenseless. When confronted by an enemy, they neither attack nor retreat. The kakapo's only ingrained way of dealing with danger is to become absolutely still and allow it's feathers to act as camouflage. This worked well centuries ago, when the kakapos' main enemies were the giant eagle and other birds that hunted by sight. Today this is useless against mammalian hunters which rely on smell, and unfortunately for the kakapo, it has a strong, sweet, musky scent.

The kakapos' skins were highly prized by the Maori people. Some cloaks were made from kakapo feathers, and they were also used to fill mattresses and pillows. It is rumored that kakapo was one of their principle foods until the introduction of the kumara (a type of sweet potato).

In 1845 the first kakapo was found by a European. The bird was found to be quite a tasty meal- and there began a slaughter of unprecedented proportions. During the gold rush of the 1860-70s, diggers lived on a diet of kakapo, until they tired of the taste. Exploring parties made kakapo the principle item of their diet, and in later times, tourists shot and ate kakapo as well.

The skin of the first found kakapo was sent to England where it was studied and described. By 1889 the kakapo became regarded as the oldest and least developed parrot. This did nothing to stop the killing of the helpless kakapo. In fact, demand for their stuffed skins increased because the bird was so strange.

By 1934, specimens of the kakapo were installed in museums and private collections around the world. Most major museums had several carcasses. The market was so flooded with skins they were worth only 37p each, and in previous years they were so abundant they were even fed to dogs for meat. With all of these things happening, by the 1930s humans had caused the kakapos' extinction on the north island of New Zealand.

The kakapo was running out of food, safe places to live, and out of time as a species.

Something had to be done, and luckily for the kakapo, people began to be concerned about them. In 1952, the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs appealed for assistance in locating kakapo to begin conservation efforts. From 1958 to the 1970s, the wildlife service made regular expeditions to the Fiordland area and northwest Nelson regions in search of the now elusive parrots. This work was very difficult, the people had to hike in treacherous terrain, along rugged trails in steep areas, in all types of weather. For all of their hard effort, they only found eight birds until 1974, when helicopters were introduced in the search.

In 1999, sixty two kakapo, including 6 juveniles from the 1999 season are known to survive - 26 females : 36 males. These are currently located on 5 off-shore islands to which they have been relocated since 1975 to protect them from introduced predatory mammals. Fifteen, (9 males : 6 females) are progeny raised since 1991 of translocated birds. The remainder (47) are from Stewart Island, with the exception of an aged male known as "Richard Henry" - the last known surviving individual from the New Zealand mainland. No natural population is known to remain."

Persistent paranoia certainly has its virtues! To be alive is to be scared. To loose fear is to die. The ridiculousness of this bird - a direct product of its unrealistic nice - set the stage for the tragedy of its mindless slaughter. Death, by failure to flee or fight.  The Kakapo's history, to the Existentialist, is a true legend.  

The African Black Oystercatcher that features on many of this website's pages, is also at risk of extinction. Like the Kakapo it occupies a very unique and very narrow nice that is threatened by the expansion and recreation of man. Unlike the Kakapo, the oystercatcher is a fierce little warrior with incredible skill in both fleeing and fighting! Also, man has become slightly more wise and will fend for the Oystercatcher because like the Kakapo, it is such a remarkable creature.

We would do well to remember the words of Hutton and Drummond, who worked around the kakapo in 1905. "Its intelligence commands respect, and its helplessness sympathy, while its genial nature endears it to all who know it well. It repays kindness with gratitude, and is as affectionate as a dog, and as playful as a kitten".

Why save the kakapo? Why save any creature on the verge of extinction? Mark Carwardine answers, in the book Last Chance To See:

"Every animal and plant is an integral part of its environment... If they disappear, so could many other species. And conservation is very much in tune with our own survival. Animals and plants provide us with life-saving drugs and food, they pollinate crops and provide important ingredients for many industrial processes. Ironically, it is not often the big and beautiful creatures, but the ugly and less dramatic ones, that we need most.

There is one last reason for caring, and I believe that no other is necessary. It is certainly the reason why so many people have devoted their lives to protecting the likes of rhinos, parakeets, kakapos, and dolphins. And it is simply this: the world would be a poorer, darker, lonelier place without them."

This page other than comments in purple-red, copied virtually verbatim, including pictures, from http://www.kakapo.net/. May the Kakapo live forever!

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