DON MERTON - A Passion for Birds

A nice profile of Don Merton, the soon-to-retire kakapo conservationist, at New Zealand's STUFF.

Don Merton's grandmother's canary has a lot to answer for. His fascination with the bird from the age of five led him into a 48-year career helping some of the country's most endangered birds, including the Chatham Islands robin, North Island saddleback and kakapo, to avoid extinction.

Now he has decided it is time to retire.

AYE-AYE LEMURS - Duke University Primate Center

Duke University's Primate Center has a nice site, and in their Learning section they have a nice sub-section all about the twig technologist Aye-Ayes.

And to hear an Aye-Aye sniffing and tapping away, visit this page at The Wild Ones.

KAKAPO PARROTS - Under-sexed Kakapos have "rubbish" sperm

The goal in 2006 will be to ensure each Kakapo breeds twice within the season. Paul Jansen explains why to The New Zealand Herald.

Scientists have discovered female kakapo that mate twice in a season have a higher chance of producing fertile eggs. That was thought to be because of the "very poor quality" of male kakapo sperm, Mr Jansen said.

"The majority of kakapo sperm is rubbish. Even productive birds have poor sperm because of past inbreeding," he said.

"They’re so inbred that if they were humans, they’d probably have six fingers and be playing a guitar."

KAKAPO PARROTS - Don Merton to retire

The New Zealand Herald is also reporting that Don Merton, the long-time Kakapo conservationist is to retire.

The man who led the dramatic rescue of one of New Zealand’s most famous birds is retiring after almost 50 years.

Almost exactly 30 years ago this month, Don Merton and a team of wildlife service staff and volunteers were camping in a remote Fiordland valley in a last-ditch attempt to find the native parrot kakapo, feared to be extinct.

KAKAPO PARROTS - Going for 91

Article from New Zealand's STUFF on the hopes for the rest of the 2005 kakapo breeding season, and also the optimism for 2006.

The kakapo population was at its highest point in more than 30 years with the hatching of four chicks bringing the total to 87, kakapo recovery team leader Paul Jansen said.

The four chicks on Codfish Island were likely to be joined by more, with four more eggs expected to hatch within the next 10 days, he said.

"The best we could do is get 91 kakapo by the end of the season."

Kakapo had not bred since 2002 when 24 chicks were born.

KAKAPO PARROTS - Smithsonian Article

Here's an article from the 2002 Smithsonian Magazine called "Going To Extremes" (PDF) by DEREK GRZELEWSKI.

Without the extraordinary dedication of a few conservationists, New Zealand's Kakapo would likely have gone the way of the Dodo.
[...]
The kakapo, of course, recalls the dodo (the former resident of what is now the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean), which became extinct 300 years ago. Like the dodo, the kakapo is a large and solitary creature too heavy to fly. Also like the dodo, it nests on the ground. Like the kakapo, the dodo was numerous and longlived and a slow and infrequent breeder, which meant it could not bounce back once its population was diminished.

Google has a cached HTML version if you'd prefer.

DODOS - Living colony discovered breeding on Mauritius

A colony of Dodos has been discovered alive, and breeding, in a remote part of the Mauritian Ivory Forest, off the coast of Madagascar. A full report on this amazing discovery will be published in next month's Natural Eco magazine.

Douglas Adams used the Dodo as a prime example of a human-caused extinction in both his "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "Last Chance To See" books of course.

Team leader Gwen Arnesen said that rumors of such a colony surfaced last year when a team of local loggers found a number of broken egg shells in the area. Such shells are not unheard of, but it was their excellent condition which prompted further research.

"It really is the find of the century", Ms Arnesen said. "The remote location and hard terrain has facilitated the preservation of this 'Lost World' of Dodos. We believe the colony is some forty to fifty birds strong, with at least fifteen breeding females. We will now be working closely with the Mauritian authorities to ensure their protection."

And for further reading on the Dodo, obviously written before this stunning development, visit David Reilly's The Tragedy of the Dodo (1598-1681).