First successful artificial insemination of kākāpō in a decade

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Kakapo Sinbad, who carries valuable Fiordland genes, was involved in a successful artificial insemination attempt.

For the first time in a decade kākāpō chicks have been hatched through artificial insemination.

During this breeding season three female kākāpō were successfully inseminated resulting in two chicks being hatched.

One of the two chicks that successfully hatched through artificial insemination.

Department of Conservation kākāpō operations manager Deidre Vercoe said it was a crucial milestone for the long-term recovery of the species.

Kākāpō had a very low breeding success rate, and many male kākāpō never got to breed or only produce few offspring, which worsened the limited genetic diversity of the species, Vercoe said.

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'Artificial insemination was an opportunity to fix both of these problems.'

Because kākāpō struggled to breed and a female kākāpō could get attached to one partner, they would carry the same genes onto 20 to 30 offspring, Vercoe said.

Attached female kākāpō could be nominated for artificial insemination to carry other genes from another male and extend genetic diversity, she said.

One of the chicks that successfully hatched was the offspring of a kākāpō called Sinbad, that carried a rare Fiordland gene.

Unfortunately the chick had the fungal disease aspergillosis, which was threatening the kākāpō population on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.

The chick was doing alright and would hopefully survive and carry the rare Fiordland genes for future generations, Vercoe said.

The first attempt at artificial insemination of the birds was in 2008 and 2009.

At the time it was the first successful artificial insemination of a wild bird species in the world.

Attempts in 2011, 2014, and in 2016 proved unsuccessful.

The latest successful results could be credited to a refinement of technology, Vercoe said.

Having a team from Germany who were experts in artificial insemination helped improve the process, although they found it challenging working with the bird, she said.

'It is hard work to do this, to inseminate a wild bird population.'

Despite the success of the hatching, more work was needed to get the success rate of the hatching down, she said.

Of the 12 females that were attempted to be artificial inseminated, only three were successful and only two hatched chicks, she said.

With Kākāpō only hatching every two to three years, it could be another 10 years before the insemination rate improved.

The Kākāpō Recovery Group involved in the project was funded by Department of Conservation, Meridian Energy and supported by Ngāi Tahu.

Kākāpō Recovery Group Ngāi Tahu representative Tane Davis said the successful hatching was an example of western science working alongside traditional Matauranga values for the enhancement of the species.

Naturally breed kākāpō had a successful season this year, with 73 chicks hatched.

The population of adult kākāpō in New Zealand is 142.