EFFORT TO SOLVE KAKAPO MYSTERY

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30107, 16 April 1963, Page 8

EFFORT TO SOLVE KAKAPO MYSTERY

Persons with good memories and experience in the bush can help to solve the mystery of why the kakapo disappeared from its former haunts, and now appears to survive only in the Milford Sound region. Officers of the Wildlife Branch at the Department of Internal Affairs have already learnt much about the kakapo. They have observed the only bird in captivity, which seems to be perfectly happy after two years ait Mount Bruce, in the Wairarapa. They have also investigated and mapped one of the kakapo’s last natural refuges to enable a check to be kept on its numbers. But the Wildlife Branch wants to know more about the kakapo. particularly the reasons for disappearance from the central North island and most of the western South Island. Research has recently been intensified because introduced wildlife may begin to threaten the existence of kakapo in the Tutoko Valley. Chamois are now in an adjacent valley and may spread. There are no deer in the Tutoko, but they, too, could spread there. The effect of introduced browsing mammals (such as deer) on the bush may have helped to cause the kakapo’s disappearance from its former habitats.

A Wildlife Branch biologist, Mr T. Riiggert, is now studying the kakapo. Until the spring, when he will begin field wonk in the Tutoko Valley, Mr Riggert will continue observations of the nocturnal habits of the bird at Mount Bruce. The second member of the ‘‘kakapo team” is a field officer, Mr C. Roderick, who has been working in the Tutoko Valley but will have to come out before the winter. The Wildlife Branch considers there may be many useful clues to the causes of the kakapo’s disappearance in the experiences of persons who knew the bush in the old days, and in references in old letters, diaries, and newspapers. Mr Riggert is collecting such data, and will welcome any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Anyone who can help should write to him at the Wildlife Branch. Departmen tof Intern*! Affairs. Private Bag. Wellington. Although distinctive in shape and colouring, the kakapo is seldom seen, because it usually gets around at twilight or in the dark. It lives mostly in beech forests between sea level and at least 4000 ft. Its wings are well developed, but it can

make only short downward gliding flights. Unlike other flightless birds such as the kiwi or weka, the kakapo climbs trees. It is a heavy-bodied parrot, about 2ft high, much larger than either the kaka ar kea. On top it is coloured moss-green with irregular dark-brown and black bars. On the underside it is pale yellow-green with irregular dark brown and lemon-yellow bars. Its presence is indicated by pellets of bleached grass which have been sucked and left dangling on plants.