Ninety kākāpō chicks push world's heaviest parrot population past 300
The kākāpō population reached 325 birds on 1 September, the highest number in 75 years, after 90 chicks were officially added. New Zealand's critically endangered nocturnal parrot bred in record numbers this year when native rimu trees produced a bountiful berry harvest. Kākāpō breed only every two to four years when the rimu fruits heavily, making recovery slow. "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. A recovery programme was established in 1995 with a population of 51 birds and has battled challenges with genetic diversity, infertility and poor chick hatching rates.
The flightless parrots, nearly extinct by the 1900s after predators such as cats and stoats were introduced, now have their strongest foothold in decades.
Source: Kākāpō rising: 90 chicks swell population of the world’s heaviest parrot (theguardian.com). Spotted via Good Good Good.
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