New island home for rare parrot

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 11

New island home for rare parrot

Parliamentary reporter Codfish Island, south-west of Stewart Island, is being considered as a future habitat for New Zealand’s rare native parrot, the kakapo. The Under-Secretary’ for Internal Affairs (Mr Thompson) has said that the island was being cleared of wekas and opossums. It was possible the flightless kakapo would have to be removed from Stewart Island because of the great difficulty in controlling the cat population on the island. Wildlife officers on Stewart Island yesterday began to attach transmitters to the kakapos. When enough birds

have been marked in this way, they will be caught and transferred in May to Little Barrier Island. Mr Thompson said that wildlife officers were working in very difficult conditions on, Stewart Island in thick scrub up to six feet high, and the weather was bad. The kakapos did not follow a fixed route, but were scattered through the scrub, and their colouring blended with the vegetation. The Fauna Protection Advisory Council hoped to transfer 10 female and 15 make kakapos to Little Barrier Island in the next year, said Mr Thompson.