The kakapo, New Zealand's night parrot, has a few distinct disadvantages when it comes to surviving. Firstly, it's a bird that can't fly. Evolving in New Zealand with no land mammals to prey on it, there was really no reason to fly so it lost the ability to do so, like so many of New Zealand's birds.
It's second big disadvantage in life is its smell. It has a pungent musty smell that is very distinctive. The non-native predators of New Zealand that arrived first with Polynesian and then European settlement - rats, cats, dogs, stoats and others use the smell to locate the large flightless bird. Apparently the kakpo's main defense is to freeze and hope not to be seen - not a brilliant strategy when one has a powerful smell.
Little wonder that the kakapo made it to "Last Chance to See" a 1990 book by Douglas Adams (of Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy fame) and Mark Carwardine. The book, which I loved, was a companion to a BBC radio show of the same name, which I never heard. Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine have made a TV series revisiting the near-extinct animals and I hope we'll see the series in Australia soon. In the widely-distributed video below it is Mark Carwardine getting shagged (heartily). The kakapos have been shagging each other a little as well and numbers have increased, but there are still only dozens left.
Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'
Kakapos can't live with these non-native predators in the environment and New Zealand subsequently uses a large amount of the toxin 1080 to protect kakapo and a range of other wildlife and native flora. The toxin is unpopular with many people and campaigns have been mounted against its use, but it is an essential conservation tool for New Zealand. A large number of New Zealand organisations have just launched a website to try and give the facts on 1080 and the importance of its continued use. You can have a read here.
Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'
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