No female kakapo found in Fiordland

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34132, 20 April 1976, Page 19

No female kakapo found in Fiordland

( WELLINGTON, p I' Intensive efforts by 1 (staff of the Wildlife Ser-i‘ vice and enthusiastic! volunteers this past (summer, hampered by i j unseasonable weather 1 (and a late booming- sea-i( son. have failed to dis- ! cover any female kaka- ' po in Fiordland National Park which could be ' liberated with the males ( (already living on Maude , Island in Cook Strait. I ■ By the time the male ka-l, ! kapo started booming (the ' i mating ritual of the bird) in j I January, teams had already I been keeping an all-night, ( ( every-night vigil in the most ! remote parts of sub-alpine , (Fiordland for three months, and the programme was 'being run down when the! birds began to boom. : It proved impossible for! : the Wildlife Service to re-! I ( activate the full programme :

(From our Wellington reporter) and, although some malesl were seen and studied, no| females were seen or! caught. Theie have now been con-’ firmed sightings of nine! male kakapo in Fiordland,! plus the three on Maude Is-1 land, and for the first time! for 20 years males were seen outside outside the Milford catchment — in Transit Valley to the south. But no females have been seen since about 1910, and even though there should be’ some left (to account for the; males) there may not be. I As the booming of the! males, who boom in loose] groups, can be heard two] miles and a half away, any] females could be scattered over a lot of difficult ‘ country. Plans for next summer’s expedition are being begun now, although overall cuts in Government spending . may affect the work done. But i". is vital for the survival of the species that females be caught as even if some are caught next sum-

1 I mer it is likely to be two! (years before their progeny! I are ready to mate. The Wildlife Service is concerned | that the males already on ! Maude Island should not get (too old to breed. I The all-night vigils in- | volved, the harsh climate and terrain, and time taken during the height of the summer and holiday period, make kakapo searching an unpopular job and the .Wildlife Service concedes that without numbers of unpaid | volunteers and the assistjance of Park Board and (Army personnel, the job] j could not be done very well.