Two young kākāpō found dead on offshore islands
Monday, 15 February 2021
Two young kākāpō have died, one on Codfish Island/Whenua Hou and one on Anchor Island, bringing the total population of the critically endangered birds to 206.
Juvenile kākāpō Pōtonga and Matakana were born in the 2019 breeding season, and died in October.
Their bodies were only recently discovered, too decomposed to determine the cause of death.
Department of Conservation science advisor Dr Andrew Digby said it was not unusual to lose the odd kākāpō around this age, but it was “always sad news”.
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With a growing kākāpō population, they did expect to see more deaths.
Chances of survival for the large, flightless parrots was much higher than under normal conditions, as they were closely monitored and catered for, but as populations grew, nesting spots and resources were in demand.
Matakana was one of the kākāpō affected by aspergillosis, and treated at the Wildlife Hospital in Dunedin, where she became well known for her suspicious glares at the team whenever she was approached.
Pōtonga was a member of the Wind Dynasty, one of matriarch Nora's great-grandsons.
Digby said some of the juveniles were introduced to the island a lot later, due to the aspergillosis outbreak, meaning they were less prepared and unfamiliar with the terrain compared to others when it came to nesting season.
“And the island is getting a bit full,” he said.
There were around 70 kākāpō on each of the two islands, Digby said, and the entire population had seen a 70 per cent increase in the past five years – 72 fledged in 2019 alone.
Kākāpō only bred every 2 to 3 years, so this spike was partly due to the abundance of rimu fruit over the past breeding period. Six of those 72 had died.
“Obviously to lose a kākāpō is a real blow,” Digby said, but it was great to see the population succeeding as a whole.