Information on Kakapo – Appeal for Help

Forest and Bird, Issue 149, 1 August 1963, Page 18

Information on Kakapo - Appeal for Help

People 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 of the Department of Internal Affairs have already learnt much about the kakapo. hey have observed the only bird in captivity, which seems to be perfectly happy after two years at Mount Bruce in the Wairarapa. They have also investigated and mapped one of the kakapo’s last natural refuges to enable a check

The only kakapo in captivity, this male bird has been at Mount Bruce in the Wairarapa for just over two years. Officers of the Wildlife Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs have already learnt much of the kakapo’s habits. They hope that the public may be able to help by supplying further information.

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 work 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 bring about the kakapo’s disappearance from its former habitats.

A Wildlife Branch biologist (Mr. Tom Riggert) is now studying the kakapo full time. Until the spring, when he will begin field work 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 full time in the Tutoko Valley but will have to come out before winter starts.

The Wildlife Branch considers that there may be many useful clues to the causes of the kakapo’s disappearance in the experiences of people who knew the bush in the old days, and in references in old letters, diaries, and newspapers. Mr. Riggert is collecting such data and he will welcome any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Would anyone who can help please write to Mr. Riggert at the Wildlife Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, Private Bag, Wellington ?

What does a kakapo look like Although distinctive in shape and colouring, it 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 4,000 feet. Its wings are well developed but it can make only short downward gliding flights. Unlike other flightless birds such as the kiwi or weka it climbs trees. It is a heavy-bodied parrot, about two feet high, much larger than either the kaka or kea. On top it is coloured moss-green with irregular dark-brown and black bars. On the under side 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.