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.

Old age may have killed stud kakapo

Southland Times, with an update on Waynebo, the kakapo found dead on Codfish Island earlier this month.

Kakapo Recovery Programme manager Deirdre Vercoe said tests on his body had found no specific cause of death on January 2.

Although Waynebo had a small wound on his chest, the lack of inflammation suggested it had been inflicted after he was dead.

Found on Stewart Island in 1989 – making him one of the last discovered wild kakapo – Waynebo fathered 11 chicks during his time with the recovery programme.

Kakapo death a hit for breeding chances

Sad news from New Zealand. Kakapo numbers have dropped to 128 with the death of Waynebo. The Dominion Post has the story.

Male kakapo Waynebo was found dead by rangers on January 2 after his transmitter went into mortality mode.

Kakapo Recovery programme manager Deidre Vercoe Scott said the cause of Waynebo's death was unknown and tissue samples had been sent to Massey University.

"An autopsy has been carried out at Auckland Zoo and, at this stage, the only indication of the cause of death is that he had a wound on his chest."

Two Kakapo Found Dead

Sad news from New Zealand. Scoop has the full details.

Two young female kakapo have been found dead – one on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, off Stewart Island, the other on Anchor Island in Fiordland.

Kakapo Recovery programme manager Deidre Vercoe Scott said the two birds were discovered by rangers doing transmitter changes during the weekend. The first, Purity, hatched during the bumper 2009 breeding season. It was estimated she had been dead around ten days.

The other, Monoa, which hatched in 2002, was found Sunday on Anchor Island. She had been dead for quite some time, indicating the two deaths were not linked.

Kakapo overcrowding may force return to Resolution island

In this article from July, Kakapo Recovery programme scientist Dr Ron Moorhouse has concerns over possible Kakapo overcrowding, particularly on Codfish Island. Otago Daily Times has the full article.

Overcrowding may force the endangered kakapo to be returned to Resolution Island, more than 100 years after a pioneer conservationist first attempted the move.

The population of the flightless parrot stands at 131, and they are largely housed on two southern offshore islands - Codfish Island, off Stewart Island, and Anchor Island, near Dusky Sound.

Northern white rhinos set for stem cell test-tube babies

Article in the MailOnline on an interesting approach to saving the species that does not involve cloning.

The northern white rhino, one of the planet’s most endangered animals, could be saved by pioneering stem cell research.

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, also hope their work will save other animals teetering on the edge of extinction.

The team have managed to create stem cells from the majestic animals and hope they will eventually be able to produce ‘test tube babies’, too.

Kakapos: Isolation Proves Dangerous On 'Rat Island'

In a new book "Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World's Greatest Wildlife Rescue", author William Stolzenburg talks about the damage done to island ecosystems by non-native species like cats, weasels and rats. The implications for the kakapo in New Zealand are well documented, and this North Country Public Radio article talks about that, and also includes an audio interview with the author.

Stolzenburg tells NPR's Renee Montagne that because its only predators were in the sky, the kakapo had no need to fly and, therefore, couldn't.

"It exuded this particular scent also that was supposed to attract other kakapos," he says. "Of course, when the invaders got to New Zealand — when the rats and the cats and the weasels came to New Zealand — this was a bird that was just set up for massacre, and that's exactly what happened."

Stolzenburg explains that in the 1800s, settlers arriving in New Zealand brought sheep and rabbits with them for game. Sheep ate much of the vegetation, and the rabbits, being rabbits, exploded in population. With their huge numbers and voracious appetites, they began eating the sheep's rangeland. So to deal with the rabbit problem, settlers introduced stoats — a member of the weasel clan and a terrific predator. But the stoats quickly found much easier prey than rabbits — kakapos.