Not Geography Geography Lesson 7
Crazy Kakapos
This week's slightly late blog post strays a little bit into ecology again, but I had had the idea to do this topic since the very beginning of starting the blog, and reading up on the topic cheered me up immensely. So without further ado, this week I will discuss the feathered disaster that is the kākāpō bird, and the amazing (and also very amusing) efforts that conservationists have done to save the species.
What On God's Green Earth Is A Kākāpō?
If Charlie Sheen was a bird, he would be a kākāpō. Whilst few people have ever heard of the mysterious species, it is in fact holder of a couple of bird world records. They are:
- The world's heaviest parrot, weighing around 1.5kg for lady birds, and 2.5kg for gentleman birds (and they can nearly double their weight in the run-up to breeding - a bird after my own heart).
- They might be the longest living bird species with average lifespans of up to 90 years (!), but scientists aren't entirely sure because they only began studying the birds around 30 years ago.
- They are also the only parrot which has a 'lekking' system of breeding, where the male birds compete for females by displaying in a shared 'arena'.
Atop these accolades, the kākāpō is best known for its unfortunate evolutionary history, from which point everything has gone rapidly down hill...
The Kākāpō Is Dealt A Rough Hand
Until around 700 years ago, the kākāpō had been living a pretty good life in the forests of New Zealand's various islands. There were no mammals present on the islands, and they had very few or even no predators to look out for, and so over time they actually lost their ability to fly because they didn't need to. Instead they learnt to ramble, run, jump and climb with their large feet. They also developed some rather unusual breeding behaviour, which sees male birds trekking to the mutual breeding arena, digging a hole, sitting in the hole, inflating their chests out like feathery balloons, and producing a 'booming' mating call to bring all the ladies in. They can sit in their holes, booming, for up to 3 months. This bizarre process only occurs every 2-4 years depending on the quantity of food available - if the adults would have to reduce their intake to feed the next generation, they postpone mating until there is enough to go around. Wise owls.
Whilst the idea of an enormous booming parrot performing an avian steeple-chase through the forest is a weird one, it isn't really a cause for concern until the first Polynesian settlers arrive in the area.
Suddenly This Running Parrot Gimmick Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be
It did not take long for the original Maoris, and the rats and wild dogs they brought with them, to notice there was a veritable parrot buffet running around on the islands. Being the clumsy, ambling specimens that they are, the kākāpōs were easy to catch and soon their numbers dwindled to dangerously low levels. By the mid-20th Century, there was only a handful of birds left hiding in the remotest corners of the Northern Island. Turns out forgetting how to fly when you are a giant bright green parrot is not the best idea when someone is trying to turn you into nuggets.
Conservation Efforts
The kākāpō eventually got some good luck its way, when the New Zealand Wildlife Service was founded in the 1950's, which began efforts to save these feathery fools. It was an emotional rollercoaster trying to relocate and breed the last few remaining birds, as most captured were males or died shortly after (or both!). Several attempts to move birds to safer islands were ruined by new predators, and in 1995 only 51 remained. Kākāpō crisis point had been reached.
Thankfully, the conservationists' efforts were not all in vain, as the creation of the National Kākāpō Team, and new Ten-Year Kākāpō Recovery Plan began to prove successful. The idea of a national team of experts dedicated to chasing fat parrots through the forests honestly fills my heart with joy. And, there was an increase in numbers of 68% between 1995 and 2003, and the population currently stands at just shy of 160 birds! Hooray!
The tale of kākāpōs' tumultuous existence is interesting and amusing, but is also quite heart-warming and hopefully their number will continue to increase in future (so long as they can cajole the males out of their holes). You can even donate to the kākāpō recovery efforts, and 'adopt' various ones online, including a handsome fella called Ralph. How sweet!
** Read more or adopt Ralph here! - http://kakaporecovery.org.nz/ **
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