Parrot Recovery; A bumper crop of rimu berries in New Zealand has triggered a rare breeding season for the critically endangered kākāpō, the world’s only flightless parrot.
Parrot Recovery
A bumper crop of rimu berries in New Zealand has triggered a rare breeding season for the critically endangered kākāpō, the world’s only flightless parrot.
Conservationists hope the breeding season could produce a record number of chicks. The species was once close to extinction, but conservation efforts have increased the population from about 50 birds to more than 200 over the past three decades.
Kākāpō breed only every two to four years, usually when rimu trees produce large fruit crops that provide enough food for chicks. Female kākāpō can lay up to four eggs, and conservationists sometimes replace eggs with fake ones so real eggs can be incubated safely. The parrots now live on three remote predator-free islands where their breeding and survival are closely managed by conservationists.
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