Last Chance To See: ARKive Scrapbook

There's a special "Last Chance to See Scrapbook" setup on the fabulous ARKive website, all about the animals Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine have been (re)visiting for the Last Chance To See TV series.

ARKive is a unique collection of thousands of wildlife videos, images and fact-files, with a special focus on the world's threatened species.

Thanks to Dave Haddock

Kakapo Parrots: The 124 Birds

With the chance re-discovery of Rangi in February of this year, we stood at 91 living Kakapo Parrots, before a flurry of breeding produced 33 additional chicks (20 male & 13 female), bringing us up to 124 birds.

This Wikipedia page contains the most up-to-date information on their names, but here they are in a simplified view, with much of their family tree information removed.

FEMALES - Total 57 Alice Aparima Aranga Bella Boomer Cyndy Ellie Esperance Flossie Fuchsia Hananui Hauturu Heather Hine taumai Hoki Jane Jean JEM Konini Kuia Kuihi Lisa Maggie Marama Margaret-Maree "Marmar" Mila Monoa Nora Pearl Pounamu Pura Rakiura Ruth Sandra Sara Solstice Sue Suzanne Toitiiti Tumeke Weheruatanga o te po Wendy Yasmin Zephyr 13 2009 Chicks --- Recently deceased John-Girl (Died: September, 1991) Aroha (died: July 2004) Aurora (died: July 2004) Vollie (died: July 2004)

MALES - Total 67 Al Arab Ariki Barnard Basil Ben Blades Blake Bonus Boss Dobbie Doc Elwin (Unofficial name) Felix Gulliver Gumboots Horton Jester Jimmy Joe Kumi Lionel Luke Manu Merty Merv Morehu Nog Ox Palmer-san Piripi Ralph Rangi (First Captured 1987. Rediscovered February 2009, after hiding for 21 years on Codfish Island) Richard Henry Robbie Rooster (Unofficial name) Sass Sinbad Sirocco Smoko Stumpy Takitimu Te Kingi Tiwai Trevor Waynebo Whiskas 20 2009 chicks --- Recently deceased Gerry (Died: 1991) Pegasus (Died: 1993) Rob (Died: February 1994) Ken (Died: July 1998) Gunner (died: winter 2005) Bill (died: March 2008, 2008: father of:...) Mokopuna (died: April 2008, 2008 Chick #7) Lee (died: October 28, 2008)

Video: Mountain Gorillas... 98.6% Human

Please enjoy the following video from explore Africa, winner of the 2009 Maui Film Festival.

On a trip to Rwanda, explore had the opportunity to visit four families of wild mountain gorillas, a species with only 720 remaining members. Their guide is Craig Sholley, who has been intimately involved in the preservation of African wildlife for more than 30 years. The team's thrilling interaction with these peaceful creatures - who share 98.6% of their genetic makeup with humans - is a startling reminder of their own humanity. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Direct video link at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co8NneR8ilc

TV Series Trailer

The voice of Stephen Fry, from a trailer playing on the BBC...

My journey begins in lands far away, in search of the rarest of creatures,
the bushy tailed Aye-Aye, with witch-like fingers,
the fragrant whiskered Kakapo Parrot, way too heavy for flight,
the fork-tongued Komodo Dragon, breathing its foul breath,
the white rhino with strange squared lips,
and the mermaid like Manatee, blissfully gliding through rivers,
all wonderful beasts, but all endangered.
Follow my quest to find them, before they fade away... forever.

Join Stephen Fry in what might be our Last Chance To See. Sunday at Eight, on BBC2.

Thanks to a commenter below, the video may be available in the UK at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHFnNc8Qzjg

BBC Last Chance to See Blog: Brazil Conclusions

Mark Carwardine has posted a blog entry on the BBC Last Chance to See Blog about the Brazilian trip to see the Amazonian Manatees.

Last Chance to See hits our screens this week starting in the Amazon. I was a little apprehensive about this first shoot to be honest. Travelling with Stephen was going to be like travelling with Wikipedia. I remember sending a video blog about this at the time. He's far too unassuming and generous to make anyone feel in any way deficient on purpose, but there's no escaping the fact that he's the kind of person who makes you continually question your own intellect.

TV Series: Full Schedule

Mark Carwardine's site now has the full broadcast schedule for the Last Chance To See TV series. I've sneaked a look at the trailer for the show, and it looks absolutely splendid. All episodes will be found on BBC2, from Sunday 6 September, starting at 8p.m.

6 SEPTEMBER - Last Chance to See: Amazonian Manatee
13 SEPTEMBER - Last Chance to See: Northern White Rhino
20 SEPTEMBER- Last Chance to See: Aye Aye
27 SEPTEMBER- Last Chance to See: Komodo Dragon
11 OCTOBER - Last Chance to See: Kakapo
18 OCTOBER -Last Chance to See: Blue Whale

Thanks to Dave Haddock

Kakapo Parrots: The Last Release

The Kakapo Recovery Programme Ranger Diary has just posted a nice update on the release of the last of the 2009 season’s chicks. Hananui’s chick in now getting accustomed to life in the Whenua Hou forest.

This release was special for the team for a number of reasons. Firstly, she has been on a recovery mission having arrived back from Auckland Zoo’s Veterinary centre following treatment for an infected footpad and a torn eyelid. She has always been an intrepid climber and presumably these injuries were sustained during an overly ambitious attempt to summit one of the Manukas in the chick pen. On discovery of her injuries the team kept close watch on her health. After initial improvement her foot became more swollen and it was clear that she would need Veterinary assistance.

She was flown off Codfish Island and Sandy Cooper of Invercargill performed a minor operation to trim the damaged eyelid and remove dead tissue from the wound on the underside of her foot. All patched up, our young Kakapo flew up to Auckland on the same day, and thrived under the care of the Auckland Zoo Veterinary staff, recovering quickly and returning to us ready to be weaned. She spent ten days in the Codfish Island chick pen, at which time we knew she was ready for the forest-proper.