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Kakapo
Society

Facts About the Kakapo

When it comes to unique birds, the Kakapo is king!

It holds many world records:

  • Its possibly the longest-lived bird species in the world:
    it can have a life span of 90 years
  • Its the heaviest parrot in the world
  • It's flightless
  • It's the only parrot that has a 'lek' breeding system
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Whenua Jou, or Codfish Island, is a large, bush-covered island about 3km off the wild west coast of Stewart Island.

It provides Kakapo with a 1400 hectare home that is very similar to Stewart Island. It is now the main Kakapo recovery island.

When the Kakapo first moved to Whenua Hou, rats were there. The rats could hurt Kakapo eggs and chicks. Since the 1980s the rats and all predators have been removed, by a huge rat eradication programme in 1998. The rat eradication means that Whenua Hou is now a better long-term home for Kakapo.

In 2002, 24 chicks were added to the Kakapo population in a matter of months.

Three Kakapo staff work on Whenua Jou. They have to put up with an isolated location and the wild weather of New Zealand's deep south. It has no roads and is reached by light plane or helicopter.

The island is a specially-protected nature reserve, and no unauthorised landing is allowed.