Kakapo Roundup

A few Kakapo articles lately...
From National Geographic: Kakapo Coprolite Yields Conservation Clues
From Auckland Now: Sick kakapo returns to the wild
From stuff.co.nz/national: Richard Henry: Our first conservation hero

Douglas Adams' Little Rocket

Tasmanian radio station ABC Hobart has a lovely little audio interview with Douglas Adams' daughter Polly who is currently Down Under on a gap year. In it she talks fondly of her father, and how much she enjoyed reading "Last Chance To See". Enjoy.

Have a listen to Polly's memories of her father, her adventures in Aus and the one career her mother forbade her from entering!

Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture 2013

This year's Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture will be from Dr Adam Rutherford and will take place on March 12, 2013 at 6:30 p.m (for 7:30 p.m. start) at the Royal Geographical Society in London. For full details and booking information, please visit the Save The Rhino Events page.

Dr Adam Rutherford is a scientist, writer and broadcaster. He completed his doctorate in genetics at University College London in 2002. Since then he has worked at the science journal Nature, as an editor and filmmaker. Adam is also a presenter for the BBC. On Radio 4 his work has included programmes on MMR and autism, human evolution, the influence of astronomy on art and literature and most recently Extinct!, a three-part series on the current and great mass extinctions of the past.

First Kakapo Chick of the season

Tweet from @Spokesbird.

Skraaarrk! First confirmed kaka chick of the season at Orokonui Sanctuary. Cute as!

Hope for the Northern White Rhinos as Suni and Najin Mate; Twice!

Here's a quick update from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

On April 25th, four weeks after their interesting courtship ritual, Suni and Najin finally mated! 32 days later, on May 27th, they mated again. These recent mating activities provide a glimmer of hope for the critically endangered northern white rhino subspecies especially as they are Najin’s first mating in over a decade!

Excess Baggage: Mark Carwardine

Mark Carwardine appeared on this week's BBC Radio 4 travel show "Excess Baggage" talking about "Wildlife Travel". The show is streamable at the previous link, or can be downloaded as an MP3 file from their podcast.

Sadly, I learn that this is one of the very last episodes of Excess Baggage as it is being axed by the BBC and the last show will go out on April 28th. Fortnightly travel "segments" by Sandi and John will be incorporated into the new extended "Saturday Live" show.

Wanderlust has started a petition to save Excess Baggage. Please show your support!

Kakapo Basil May Have Fathered His Last Chick

Radio New Zealand reports that Basil may have to be cut from the breeding programme after another young chick "Rooster" died last week. Basil's genetic makeup may be partially to blame.

A three-year-old kakapo named Rooster died last week, the fifth fatality since September last year.
Of the six young kakapo to die recently, four were fathered by a bird named Basil on Anchor Island in Fiordland.

The death brings the total number of Kakapo down to 126.