Ninety chicks lift kākāpō population past 300 birds
Ninety chicks were added to the kākāpō population on 1 September, bringing the total number of the flightless parrots to 325. That is the highest count in 75 years, following a mass fruiting of native rimu trees which triggers breeding every two to four years. The recovery programme began in 1995 with 51 birds. "In the early years of recovery, it took 16 years to produce that many chicks," said Deidre Vercoe, the conservation department's kākāpō recovery operations manager.
Introduced predators had nearly wiped out the critically endangered bird by the 1900s.
Source: Kākāpō rising: 90 chicks swell population of the world’s heaviest parrot (theguardian.com). Spotted via Good Good Good.
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