Update from Deidre Vercoe - Operations Manager

Breeding season milestones

The 2019 breeding season has been remarkable in many ways. Here are a few highlights and milestones from the season:

• The 2019 breeding season was the earliest ever recorded breeding season with the first mating on December 17th.

• Rimu fruit ripened on Whenua Hou for the first time in 17 years!

• Every breeding-aged female in the population mated, except for Mahli on Whenua Hou.

• A total of 252 eggs were laid in 2019, smashing the previous record of 122 eggs in 2016. Of those eggs, 86 hatched successfully.

• All 21 females mated and nested on Anchor. This is the first time in management history that 100% of females at one site have nested.

• This season saw the first ever five egg clutches, laid by Ra and Jem on Anchor. Unfortunately, in both cases all five eggs were infertile.

• Solstice became the first ever female to lay three clutches in a breeding season.

• It was the first time in management history that broods of three chicks have been raised by mothers in the wild.

• Nora and Alice share our longest known breeding history record. Both birds have been laying eggs since at least 1981 and produced fertile clutches this season.

72 kākāpō chicks still rocking!

The last chick fledged from a natural nest on the 21st of June and we’re currently weaning several chicks who were hand reared so that they can be released soon. Many of the nest reared chicks are just starting to become independent from their mums and are exploring the islands. Once chicks reach 150 days old, they get counted into the population.

Population boom from double clutching

The 2019 breeding season was the earliest ever recorded, presenting a rare opportunity to use a technique called ‘double clutching’. This involved removing the first clutch of eggs from female kākāpō for artificial incubation, enabling the birds to lay a second clutch. This meant we produced much higher numbers of eggs and chicks than otherwise would have been possible.

First assisted breeding success in over a decade

Funded by our national partner Meridian Energy and supported by international experts we performed artificial insemination (AI) using the sperm from underrepresented and genetically important males. All the efforts paid off, with our AI efforts succeeding in fathering chicks for the first time in 10 years! We have produced two valuable AI chicks from this season. Nora had a chick fathered by Fiordland descendant Sinbad, which is his first chick, and Margaret-Maree had a chick fathered by Stumpy, who has never successfully produced chicks himself.

No nesting on Hauturu-O-Toi

Breeding populations of kākāpō exist on three islands in New Zealand, and whilst breeding occurred on Whenua Hou and Anchor, there was virtually no activity on Hauturu-O-Toi/Little Barrier. One mating occurred between Lisa and Jester but did not result in a nest. We will be watching Hauturu closely in 2020 in case breeding goes ahead.

Deidre candles an egg from Soltices's 3rd nest to check its fertility.   Photo by A. Digby

It all started with the rimu fruiting. Fallen rimu fruit on Whenua Hou gather at the base of this fern. Photo by A.Digby

Fridge door on 7th March tracking Kākāpō eggs and chicks on Whenua Hou.

Kākāpō hand reared chicks. Photo by L. Argilla

Queenie with her 3 foster chicks. Photo by A.Digby

Nora-3-B-2019 AI chick from Sinbad. Photo by L. Uddstrom

Hand reared chick, 2nd day after being released into the wild on Whenua Hou. Photo by C. Wickes

Visit from the Minister

In June, we were delighted to host the Minister for Conservation on Whenua Hou and at our hand rearing facility in Invercargill. This was an amazing opportunity for her to experience our work first-hand and get a better understanding of the Aspergillosis crisis.

Staff changes

We have recently said goodbye to long-term team members Freya Moore and Theo Thompson, who both made huge contributions to the team, and will be missed! We’ve also said goodbye to some of our breeding season staff. Best wishes to all those leaving us for their future endeavours.

Kākāpō chick viewings

In mid-April we hosted a public viewing event of some of the hand reared chicks in Invercargill. Over 800 people attended over three days and got the chance to see the kākāpō chicks and talk to our staff. This presented a wonderful opportunity for our team to share the work and excitement of this breeding season. A huge thank you to Ngāi Tahu, Invercargill City Council and our local iSite who supported the event.

View some behind the scenes footage from our hand rearing facility.

Kākāpō deaths

Since the last update, four adult kākāpō (Hoki, Huhana, Gumboots, Arab) have died and the decision was made to remove a fifth (Merty) from the population total as he had been missing for an extended period and was not present at his track and bowl this summer.

Minister Sage and Daryl releasing chicks on Whenua Hou. Photo by A. Digby

Hand reared chicks in Invercargill being fed. Photo by J.MacTavish

Hand reared kākāpō in Invercargill get ready to meet the public. Photo by A.Digby

Hoki. Photo by J. Osborne

Importance of Technology

Using innovative technology enables us to achieve more with fewer resources and cause less disturbance to the birds. With help from our team of DOC technology experts, led by Stuart Cockburn, we have automated much of the data collection that used to be carried out manually. Stu and his team have worked tirelessly to design new equipment and keep everything running smoothly for us and have also been developing our smart egg in partnership with Meridian Energy and with help from David Patterson.

Good year for rare genes

It has been a good year for Fiordland genetics, with Kuia producing three chicks and Suzanne mating with Gulliver to produce another three chicks, in addition to Sinbad’s AI chick. This is excellent news for preserving and integrating this much needed genetic diversity in the population.

Aspergillosis outbreak on Whenua Hou

Aspergillosis is a disease caused by the fungi Aspergillus, which is extremely common and present in abundance throughout the environment, but which can cause problems in individuals with low immunity. Since the outbreak began on Whenua Hou in April, five chicks and two adult kākāpō (Hoki and Huhana) have died. Another 13 birds have been confirmed with the disease and are receiving veterinary treatment. At the peak of the crisis, almost a fifth of the total population was in hospital for testing and treatment. Recently six of the chicks with aspergillosis have had clear test results, indicating that their symptoms had resolved.

We are extremely grateful to Auckland Zoo, Wildlife Hospital Dunedin  and Wildbase at Massey University for their support during this crisis. We are also grateful to our dedicated field team, who went above and beyond to ensure the best outcome for the birds.

Read more from the DOC website

or the latest RNZ kākāpō files

Chick on its way to get tested for Aspergillosis. Photo by A. Digby

Anton on night duty as nest controller. Photo by B. Jeynes

Technical Advisor, Daryl Eason checks chicks. Photo by J .MacTavish

Suzanne-3-A-2019, one of Gulliver's chicks this season. Photo by  J. Osborne

Air New Zealand staff and Estelle Leask from Ngāi Tahu farewell 2 kākāpō taken off Whenua Hou for health checks. Photo by C. Wickes

Auckland Zoo aspergillosis testing. Photo by L. Uddstrom

Supporters and outreach

We are very fortunate to have supporters all around the world, and this breeding season has generated a lot of interest both nationally and internationally. Outreach is an important component of our work, as we seek to raise awareness of the plight of the kākāpō.

All hands on deck for incubation and hand rearing

A huge effort has also been put in on the mainland by incubation and hand rearing teams across the country caring for eggs, sick chicks and chicks that couldn’t be returned to nests. Special thanks to Rotorua’s Kiwi Encounter, Orana Wildlife Park and Wildlife Hospital Dunedin for their incubation & hand rearing support early in the season, which enabled the ambitious double clutching plan to be realised. Huge thanks also to our friends at Auckland Zoo, Wellington Zoo and Massey University’s Wildbase for their incredible support with hand rearing on the islands.

Keeping kākāpō healthy

There’s been incredible support from vets around the country who have been involved in responding to various veterinary emergencies throughout the breeding season. In a world first, brain surgery was performed on a chick that hatched with a deformed skull and brain hernia. The chick, Esperance-1-B-19, has since made a full recovery and has recently returned to Whenua Hou. We are extremely grateful to Wildbase at Massey University for their expertise.

You can read more here

Donations

A huge thank you to everyone who supported us throughout this breeding season. The level of support and donations has been incredible, and we’ve been kept busier than ever with more adoption packages being posted in this last year than any prior period.

We were overwhelmed by the support we received from the public in response to the Aspergillosis outbreak. We have been incredibly humbled by the amount people have contributed to date. The donated funds will go towards more diagnostics and research to improve our understanding of the disease, complementing the core Department of Conservation funding that continues to be directed to the response.

Volunteers and supporters

To date, over 140 volunteers and DOC staff from outside the Kākāpō Recovery team have assisted in field work on Whenua Hou and Anchor this breeding season, plus many others who have assisted with hand rearing and caring for sick chicks. Meridian staff dropped everything to fly out to Anchor when we experienced power system issues, Bostock fed the growing chicks with Organic apples, Pacific Vets supplied us with erysipelas vaccine to protect the chicks from this disease and the Queen Elizabeth Trust helped us to get enough fresh browse to feed our hand reared chicks.

We were also delighted to have several volunteers join us from our national partner, Meridian. Julie McMillan volunteered on Anchor this season and blogged about her experience.

How to stay in touch

Listening to the ‘Kākāpō Files’ podcasts

Following Andrew Digby on Twitter

Following our Facebook page

Following us on Instagram 

Luke from Haast DOC weighs a newly released hand reared chick on Whenua Hou. Photo by C.Wickes

DOC, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital and Auckland Zoo staff all help out feeding chicks

Volunteer Bob feeding chicks. Photo by J. MacTavish

Catherine from Gorge River NZ, raised over $800 for the kākāpō with her hand knitted kākāpō hats

Weighing chicks. Photo by A.Digby

Meridian staff help out on Anchor Island

Kākāpō chicks Awarua-3-A-2019 and Queenie-4-A-2019 in Ihi’s nest. Photo by J. MacTavish