Turning the Tide

From 1949-73, the Wildlife Service made more than 60 expeditions to find kakapo, focusing mainly on Fiordland. Six were caught, but all were males and all but one died within a few months in captivity.

"In the early days, there were no air-drops and we took everything in on backpacks. It was pretty rough weather and rough country. We would sometimes spend three weeks at a time, living in a pup tent, and cooking with an open fire as best we could get going under the conditions. And we knew virtually nothing about the bird, as nobody had worried about them till then."

- Marsh Small, field supervisor for the New Zealand Wildlife Service, recalls the 1950s searches for kakapo in Fiordland.

It was an intense learning exercise, as staff came to terms with the challenge of saving a critical species, and struggled with a lack of resources and basic equipment in very difficult conditions.

Despite the disappointments, these early expeditions laid the groundwork for the future successes with kakapo, as different ideas and ways of doing things were trialled, and new information about the species was uncovered.

"In the early days, we had to scrimp and save, beg borrow and steal, to get enough material to carry on with. It was a hand-to-mouth business and tough going for the blokes out there. But everyone was so excited when we caught the first kakapo. It was proof they were there and proof that we could catch them."

- Bill Axbey, Southern Lakes conservator for the New Zealand Wildlife Service, recalls the capture of the first kakapo in 1961.

By the early 1970s, the situation had become critical. A new initiative was launched in 1974 at which time no birds were known to exist. By 1977, 18 males had been found in Fiordland but with no females known to exist, the species seemed doomed.

The turning point came later the same year, when a population of about 200 kakapo was found living in southern Stewart Island - an island free from stoats, ferrets and weasels. That discovery breathed new life into the kakapo programme after it was confirmed the population included female birds.

However, even these kakapo were in rapid decline, due to predation by feral cats, and so in 1987 the decision was made to evacuate the surviving population to offshore island sanctuaries.

"Kakapo are now biological refugees in their own land"

- Don Merton, Kakapo Recovery Programme worker, 1997.

There, free from predators, the Stewart Island birds have been the foundation point for all subsequent work in managing the species by the Wildlife Service and - since 1987 - by its replacement: the Department of Conservation.

Also translocated to the islands were five Fiordland male kakapo. Richard Henry - found and captured there in 1975 - is now the last surviving kakapo from Fiordland.

But, even safe from cat and stoat attack on the islands, breeding success was hard to achieve, as it became apparent that rats were a major predator of newly hatched kakapo chicks. At this rate, kakapo could not produce sufficient chicks to off-set adult mortality without further assistance.

In fact, by 1995, although at least 12 chicks had been produced on the islands, only three had survived and the kakapo population had slumped to 51 birds.

This critical situation prompted an urgent review of kakapo management in New Zealand, and led to the formation of a National Kakapo Team, a new ten-year A Kakapo Recovery Plan, increased funding and staffing and a specialist advisory group called the Kakapo Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee.

After the first five years of the plan, the population recovery was on target. By 2000, five new females had been produced, there had been 13 breeding attempts, and the total population had increased to 62 birds.

In total, this means there had been a 68% increase in the kakapo population from 1995 to 2003. That progress has given the Kakapo Recovery Programme a cautious optimism that it is on the right track and, with continued support, can guarantee a future for one of the world's most remarkable birds.