BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

December 2019

WILD NEWS

Dr Jodie Crane

In2019,thekkp

populationrosefrom 147

to 213 individuals.DrJodie

Cranediscussesthebiggest

breedingseasononrecord,

andprospectsforthese

CriticallyEndangeredbirds.

SeniorrangerwithKkp Recovery, New Zealand

MEET THE SCIENTIST

K

k p are huge,

nocturnal, flightless

parrots, and in 1995

just 51 individuals

existed in the world

• theirnumbers
  decimatedbyintroducedpredators
  andhabitatloss.K k p Recovery
  formedtoconservethebirdson
  NewZealand’spredator-freeislands
  towhichtheyarenowconfined.
  JodieCranejoinedtheteamin
  April2018.She’snostrangerto
  birdfieldwork,havingcompleted
  herPhDonAustralianbabblers,
  workedasornithologicalwarden
  ontheCalfofManandtracked
  seabirdswiththeRSPB.Thisis
  a newchallenge:“Withspecies
  work,a yearis usuallyenoughto
  getyourheadaroundeverything.
  Butthisprojecthasa wholelevelof
  complexityI neverimagined.”
  Kk p breeding is stimulated by
  the abundance of berries from rimu
  trees, bumper years being called
  mast years. “It’s been a megamast
  year,”saysCrane.“Thetrees

Allbirdsweartransmittersthat

provideinformationonlocation

andactivity,andevenmating

opportunitiesaremanaged:“One

malehadfathereda thirdofthe

population,whichisn’tidealfrom

a geneticperspective.Sowemoved

himtoa differentislandtoallow

someoftheothermalestobreed.”

Breedingwon’thappenagainon

WhenuaHouandAnchorIsland

untilthenextmasting,probably

in2022.Inthemeantime,there’s

a welcomeproblemtodealwith.

“Wehavetoomanykk p! So,we’re

settingupnewsitesforthem,and

evenconsideringa mainlandsite,

whichwouldbea hugeandsymbolic

stepfortheproject.”

Afterthisyear’sextraordinary

season,themoodis upbeatbut

alsosober.Sincethecelebratory

announcementof 213 birdsin

September,twohavediedfrom

aspergillosis,a fungalinfectionthat

killedsevenothersearlierintheyear.

“It’sa reminderthatthough

k k p conservationhascomea

longway,therearestillmassive

challenges.It bringsyouback

torealityprettyquickly.”

JoWimpenny

There’sahugeweightof

responsibility.Youcan’t

putasidethethoughtthat

everylifeisinvaluable.

S

T

have masted in absolutely prolific

proportions. Our model predicted

the first mating in early February and

it was actually before Christmas.”

The conditions allowed the team

to double-clutch the birds: the

first clutch was taken for artificial

incubation, leaving females free to

lay a second clutch. For some nests,

transporting the eggs involved a

toughthree-hour night hike.

“There’s a huge weight of

responsibility. You can’t put aside the

thought that every life is completely

invaluable,” she explains. Upon

hatching, the team acted as

surrogate mothers until the

chicks could be returned to the

nest. It paid off. “We currently

have 70 surviving chicks from

this breeding season! It’s the

gest breeding season since

conservation efforts began.”

Kk p

Recovery:

doc.govt.

nz/kakapo-

recovery

Kakapo: Jake Osborne

FIND OUT

MORE

The team act as

surrogates before

returning chicks

to the nest. Below:

birds are regularly

health checked.