KĀKĀPŌ - RESCUED FROM THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION

A new, updated edition of Alison Ballance's Kākāpō book comes out in September and is available for pre-order now from Potton & Burton!

New Zealand’s threatened night parrot, the kākāpō, has been the focus of a remarkable conservation effort that has seen the bird’s population rise from a perilous low of 51 aging birds to three times that number. Kākāpō are unique and unusual birds. Long-lived, flightless heavyweights, they only breed every two to four years, and survive on just a small number of predator-free island sanctuaries.

A dedicated team of rangers and scientists know every kākāpō by name, and people from around the world follow this pioneering conservation programme on social media. Every new chick is celebrated, every death is mourned, and the antics of the most famous kākāpō of all, Sirocco, make headlines. Natural history writer and broadcaster Alison Ballance has been involved with kākāpō since the mid-1990s, and has a unique insight into the birds and their human minders. In this fully updated edition of Kākāpō, she follows the fall and rise of one of the world’s most unusual birds, from the brink of extinction through a roller-coaster ride of hope and loss, to today, when the species has a bright future ahead. These are exciting times for kākāpō and after 30 years of intensive management the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery team hope they are about to do themselves out of a job.

Brian Cox Meets An Aye-Aye

Here's a lovely clip of Professor Brian Cox with an Aye Aye lemur in this clips from the BBC "Wonders of Life" series. Brian gives us a nice close up of his long bony finger.

Lisa vs Tutoko at the kakapo feeder

Here's some very nice new footage of Kakapos Lisa and Tutoko feeding at special supplementary feeding stations. 2018 is still looking like it's going to be a very good breeding year. Fingers crossed!

Last Chance to See - Netflix USA

A reminder that the wonderful Last Chance To See TV series sequel to the original radio series is currently available on Netflix in the USA. For now it's just the original 6 episode series from 2009, and not the follow up "Return of the Rhino" episode.  It's a great series, presented by Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine, and well worth checking out if you've never seen it before.

Douglas Adams talks to Clive Anderson

This is really nice. I probably watched this at the time, but I just stumbled upon this interview on YouTube. Here's Douglas Adams interviewed by Clive Anderson on his Talks Back show including talking about the Last Chance To See book.  Great stuff!