The cost for seeing Sirocco at Zealandia has been revealed, and is (surprisingly) less than at Dunedin, and much less than a regular night tour: Adults: $39.50 Kids: $19.50 This is for a one hour tour (25 minutes viewing Sirocco), and Zealandia members get a further 25% off admission. There are up to 6 tours per night, starting at 8pm. Sirocco is coming to ZEALANDIA
2 young females have died (2002 born Monoa and 2009 born Purirty). One on Codfish Island, one on Steward Island. The deaths do not seem to be related but exact cause is not known for either yet.
Sadly a male has died The death of a male kakapo on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island has brought disappointment to the Kakapo Recovery team, as it faces a year without any breeding.
looking on the "bright" side of that, Waynebo was an older bird and (as mentioned on OrangePerson's link) had already sired several young birds so at least he has been productive before he died.
Sadly another kakapo has died bringing the numbers to 127; Sandra was not a good breeder but unfortunately seems to have got caught up by her transmitter harness. Waynebo appears to have died of old age. Another kakapo death as Te Rau Aroha Marae (Bluff) prepares to welcome special guest for Waitangi Day celebrations
Another kakpo has died, The death of a young male kakapo last week – the fifth since September – may be linked to poor genetics, prompting the Kakapo Recovery team to consider removing Basil, an Anchor Island-based bird, from the breeding programme.
well we've lost a few kakapo recently, but is the following a dim ray of hope for new birds on the horizon? Reports Of Kakapo Sounds Spark DOC Search | Stuff.co.nz When Pertinax reads this, could you please change the thread title to Kakapo Season 2010-2012 thanks. I won't start a new thread for kakapo until the next proper breeding season.
Chliodanias, This is potentially even better news for the kakapo if the cited as "credible" reports are true. The current population will always be confronted with a bottleneck given the few founders on which it is based. So, an influx of unrelated genes is a welcome fly in!!!
I'm crossing my fingers but not too tightly. How realistic the "credible-sounding" reports were I have no idea; how reliable the trampers themselves were I have no idea; if said trampers had ever heard bitterns booming before I have no idea. I will wait and see what happens.
the kakapo in the story above is now set to be released on Little Barrier with the others Injured kakapo's got a hot date - environment | Stuff.co.nz
Done Sorry I hadn't looked here for a while but I always come back. Its interesting how the 'Are there still Kakapo in Fiordland?' conundrum has resurfaced yet again. Also that genetic problems may now be affecting/ hampering further increases.
Not sure if I imagined it but I thought I read somewhere it was looking promising for a breeding season/
The 2008-2009 breeding season was obviously a fantastic one (33 chicks survived: http://www.zoochat.com/17/kakapo-season-2009-a-63705/), 2009-2010 was a non-breeding season, and the 2010-2011 one reasonable (eleven chicks: not as great as it could have been, but better than none at all). However there was no breeding at all in the 2011-2012 season, which is why I extended this thread to cover that non-breeding year (i.e last season). Hopefully 2012-2013 will be a good one, and that will be a new thread. (Because of our "reversed" seasons, obviously the breeding cycle overlaps the end and start of two years, so the new thread will be titled "Kakapo Season 2012-2013" or just "Kakapo Season 2013" as that will be the year they will be hatching in)
I wasn't arguing about threads, I thought I read somewhere the rimu was looking promising. What happened in 9/10?
I didn't imagine it, 12th Feb Woohoo! Our scientist Dr Ron Moorhouse has been tree climbing on Codfish Island during the past week...all signs are looking good for a breeding season in 2013! He has been checking the amount of rimu fruit that has formed...it won't ripen for ages and is what the mother kakapo feed their chicks...fingers crossed
ah, I thought you were commenting on the change in title to include 2012 (basically I thought the way I'd phrased it had made it sound like I was saying that the upcoming season [2012-2013] was going to be a no-go). And you're right I completely forgot to include the 2009-2010 season, but that's because there was no activity (now edited into the earlier post).
