Kakapo - Conservation - Kakapo Recovery Plan

Kakapo Recovery Plan

In 1989, a Kakapo Recovery Plan was developed and a Kakapo Recovery Group established to implement it. The New Zealand Department of Conservation replaced the Wildlife Service for this task. The first action of the plan was to relocate all the remaining Kakapo to suitable islands for them to breed. None of the New Zealand islands were ideal to establish Kakapo without rehabilitation by extensive revegetation and the eradication of introduced mammalian predators and competitors. Four islands were finally chosen: Maud, Hauturu/Little Barrier, Codfish and Mana. Sixty-five Kakapo (43 males, 22 females) were successfully transferred onto the four islands in five translocations. Some islands had to be rehabilitated several times when feral cats, stoats and weka kept appearing. Little Barrier Island was eventually viewed as unsuitable due to the rugged landscape, the thick forest and the continued presence of rats, and its birds were evacuated in 1998. Along with Mana Island, it was replaced with two new Kakapo sanctuaries, Chalky Island (Te Kakahu) and Anchor Island. The entire Kakapo population of Codfish Island was temporarily relocated in 1999 to Pearl Island in Port Pegasus while rats were being eliminated from Codfish. All Kakapo on Pearl and Chalky Islands were moved to Anchor Island in 2005.

A key part of the Recovery Plan is the supplementary feeding of females. The Kakapo breeds only once every two to five years, when a certain type of plant species, primarily Dacrydium cupressinum (rimu), produces protein-rich fruit and seeds. Observations of the relationship between intermittent breeding and the plant's mast year help biologists choose which suitable supplementary foods to increase Kakapo breeding frequency. In 1989, six preferred foods (apples, sweet potatoes, almonds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and walnuts) were supplied ad libitum each night to 12 feeding stations. Males and females ate the supplied foods, and females nested on Little Barrier Island in the summers of 1989–91 for the first time since 1982, although nesting success was low.

Supplementary feeding not only increases Kakapo breeding frequency, but also affects the sex ratio of Kakapo offspring, as maternal conditions influence this ratio. (See section "Reproduction" for more information on this topic.) This finding was subsequently used to increase the number of female chicks by deliberately manipulating maternal condition. During the winter of 1981, only females below 1.5 kg weight were given supplementary feeding to avoid raising their body condition, and the sex ratio results in 1982 were close to parity, eliminating the male-biased sex ratios in the unrestricted feeding.

Though breeding can be improved by supplementary feeding, the survival of young Kakapo is hampered by the presence of Polynesian rats. Of 21 chicks that hatched between 1981 and 1994, nine were either killed by rats or died and were subsequently eaten by rats. Nest protection has been intensified since 1995 by using traps and poison stations as soon as a nest had been detected. A small video camera and infra-red light source watch the nest continuously, which will remotely scare approaching rats by small bang and flash lights. To increase the success rate of nesting, a nest watcher places a small thermostatically controlled electric blanket over the eggs or chicks, whenever the female leaves the nest for food. The survival rate of chicks has increased from 29% in unprotected nests to 75% in protected ones.

To monitor the Kakapo population continuously, each bird is equipped with a radio transmitter. Every known Kakapo, barring some young chicks, has been given a name by Kakapo Recovery Programme officials. It is an affectionate way for conservation staff to refer to individual birds, and a stark reminder of how few remain. Artificial incubation of eggs and hand-raising of chicks have often been used to improve the condition of the eggs and chicks. In November 2005, the population comprised 41 females and 45 males, including four fledgings (3 females and 1 male) bred in 2005. The oldest known Kakapo, "Richard Henry", was thought to be 80 years old at the time of his death in December 2010.

In 2006, the Kakapo Recovery Programme presented a new management plan that would run from 2006 to 2016. The key goals of this plan are to increase the female population to at least 60 by 2016, increase genetic diversity, maintain or restore a sufficiently large habitat to accommodate the expected increase in the Kakapo population, and maintain public awareness and support.

The Kakapo Recovery Plan has been a successful programme, with the numbers of Kakapo increasing steadily. Adult survival rate and productivity have both improved significantly since the programme's inception. However, the main goal is to establish at least one viable, self-sustaining, unmanaged population of Kakapo as a functional component of the ecosystem in a protected habitat. To help meet this conservation challenge, two large Fiordland islands, Resolution (20,860 ha) and Secretary (8,140 ha), have been prepared for re-introduction of the Kakapo with large-scale ecological restoration activities.

During the 2008-2009 summer breeding season, the total population of Kakapo rose to over 100 for the first time since monitoring began, reaching 126 by February 2012. More than twenty of the 34 chicks had to be hand-reared because of a shortage of food on Codfish Island.

In 2012, seven Kakapo were transferred to Little Barrier Island, in an attempt to establish a successful breeding program. Kakapo were last on the island in 1998.