We saw a Kakapo!!!!

I have to admit that up until this weekend I did not have a clue what a Kakapo was, and for the benefit of anybody else as ignorant as me I'll tell you.

The Kakapo is a bird, but it is not like any bird you have ever seen, it is so amazing, it just looks like some made up mythical creature. The Kakapo only lives in New Zealand and long ago they could be found all over the country. For millions of years NZ was only inhabited by bird and reptiles so the Kakapo did not learn the defense mechanisms to escape or combat mammalian predators. The arrival of Polynesian peoples thousands of years ago, of Europeans in the 1800's, and ultimately the pets and livestock they brought with them resulted in the massive decline of Kakapo populations from hundreds of thousands to a mere handful of birds.

Back in the 1970s the Kakapo was believed to be extinct, then some were discovered living on remote islands off the shore of NZ. These islands are the only place in the world where the Kakapo has no predators and can live safely.

Thanks to the Kakapo recovery programme there are now 91 Kakapos alive and thriving.

Back in April seven chicks hatched on one of the islands, these were transferred to a sanctuary here in Nelson to ensure their survival. Sadly one of the chicks died but the remaining six thrived. Now at 10 weeks old they are about to be taken back to their island. Last weekend the sanctuary had a big open day so everyone could go and say goodbye to them. The girls really wanted to go, so we took them up on Sunday. Honestly nothing could have prepared us for the sight of them, they have to be one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. If you could imagine a cross between an owl and a parrot, the size of a rooster with zero coordination you'd be somewhere near! They were truly beautiful and I feel so privileged to have actually seen them up close - And guess what? I didn't take my camera :(

The Kakapo is so rare that all of the 91 living birds have names, check them out here, and this is a link to the Kakapo Recovery Programme, it is a really interesting site, go have a look.