Injured kakapo's got a hot date
Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 15:46 A feisty young patient is set to be discharged from the Auckland Zoo vet centre tomorrow so she can begin her new life at pest-free sanctuary Little Barrier Island.
Ten-year-old Rakiura was meant to be freed with seven other kakapo last month, but a disease, which caused lesions on the bird's backside, delayed her release for 19 days.
With treatment of anti-parasitic, antibiotic and anti-fungal medication and pain relief she has been nursed back to health and will depart for her new home tomorrow.
It is hoped Little Barrier's eight new kakapo, which include Rakiura's mum Flossie, can establish a population without supplementary feeding from humans, and add to the current worldwide kakapo population of just 126 birds.
Dr Richard Jakob-Hoff, one of Rakiura's vets, says she will travel to her new home in style, arriving by helicopter before her carers find a spot in the bush to release her. Local iwi will say a karakia before her return to the wild.
Jakob-Hoff says her camouflage means she will quickly disappear in the bush once the door to her travel cage is unlocked.
"They've got this beautiful green plumage with black bars through it so when they're in amongst the bush they're almost impossible to see, which is great protection for them.
"I've watched kakapo in the bush and they've been about a metre away from me and I couldn't see them."
He says Rakiura's personality will stand her in good stead as she goes bush.
"She is a bit feisty which is a good thing because she's a wild bird and she needs to go out there and stay away from people and look after herself, so being feisty is always something we look for as a good sign."
He says a feisty temperament is typical for wild kakapo like Rakiura who has grown up on Codfish Island.
"Quite a few kakapo have been hand-raised so those birds are maybe a little less so, but she's a fully wild bird."
Rakiura will have a final check on her condition to check she's got enough weight on her before tomorrow's departure.
Birds can often experience some initial weight loss when they are transferred to a new habitat.
"They're just getting used to finding where their natural food sources are so it's like moving into a new suburb and finding out where all the shops are," Jakob-Hoff says.
Rakiura, like the other birds released on Little Barrier, will be monitored by the Department of Conservation (DOC) with a radio tracker.
In June, a team will travel to the island to check each bird's progress following their release.
Kakapo lived on Little Barrier Island between 1982 and 1999, when they were moved so the island could be cleared of rats.
By 1995 only 50 kakapo were known to exist nationwide but today there are 126 kakapo being managed by DOC on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, near Stewart Island, and Anchor Island, in Fiordland.