BACK TO KAKAPO ENCOUNTER HOME PAGE to make a booking: stewartisland@i-SITE.org Press Release: Kakapo Encounter 2008 One of the most wonderful, perhaps, of all living birds… -- from Buller’s History of the Birds of New Zealand Kakapo Encounter 2008: Sirocco the Kakapo returns Back by popular demand, New Zealand’s rare endemic night parrot will be available for viewing by interested public in September-October in southern New Zealand. by Jessica Kany Get your map, mark your calendar and dust off your intrepid adventuring cap. From September 8-October 22, 2008, you have a date on New Zealand’s Stewart Island with one of Earth’s most unusual and fabulous creatures. Imagine: the dense forest of a remote Antipode island, night. Silvery moonbeams filter through the fern trees, and in the lacy light a mossy green shadow appears. It is the kakapo--a nocturnal, flightless, enormous parrot who roams the forest floor, nibbling berries, climbing trees, nesting in burrows, and dancing with others in a primeval avian ballroom. This strangely-sweet-smelling, owl-faced bird emits an unearthly squawk, stretches his beautiful wings, and shuffles forward to peer into your eyes… A tale spun by Lewis Carroll? A Jim Hensen Muppet show? Magical Tolkien lore? Believe it or not, the kakapo really truly exists. But just barely. This marvellous bird has been fighting back from the brink of extinction for decades. Today, there are 86 known kakapo remaining on Earth (and this number has come up from a decade ago!). Once prevalent throughout New Zealand, kakapo now reside on the predator-free islands Codfish and Maud under the care of the Kakapo Recovery Programme. Typically only scientists involved in the programme have had the opportunity to behold this rare and mysterious bird. That changed last year with the inception of Kakapo Encounter. In the Spring of 2006, the Ulva Island Charitable Trust hosted Kakapo Encounter on Ulva Island (Ulva is a predator- free island in Stewart Island’s Paterson Inlet) and invited the public to come observe a kakapo. The response was phenomenal: people travelled from all over the globe to view this extraordinary bird. Prime Minister Helen Clark herself spent some “face time” with the lovable parrot Sirocco, and remarked that the Kakapo Encounter was a “world class” operation. Due to the success of the event, Ulva Island Charitable Trust is excited to announce that Kakapo Encounter is back! This year the Trust is making an effort to get the word out early, as many overseas bird enthusiasts expressed disappointment they didn’t have enough notice to plan a trip to New Zealand last year. From 8 September to 22nd October 2008 Kakapo Encounter invites the general public to view a kakapo. Sirocco, an exceptionally personable bird, will return to his special retreat on Ulva. Trips will depart in small groups every evening from Stewart Island’s Halfmoon Bay Wharf. The guided tour includes a boat trip through Paterson Inlet to Ulva Island, and a walk to Sirocco’s enclosure where he can be observed close-up. Sirocco’s pen has been specially constructed with his safety and comfort in mind. There are many fascinating aspects of the kakapo, not least its intricate courtship rituals. They are the only parrot in the world that breeds by a lek system. Every few years, when the rimu trees fruit, the male kakapo creates tracks and bowls by scratching depressions in the earth and connecting them with trails. He fusses over his creation, using his beak to carefully manicure the grass along his tracks, and removing pebbles or sticks that fall across it. He then uses his bowl as a wee amphitheatre: hunkered down in it, he puffs his throat up like a bullfrog, and emits a deep indescribable booming which carries for a kilometre through the forest. When a female kakapo approaches the arena, drawn by the booms, the males stretch their wings and dance for her. She chooses the best dancer with the tidiest tracks and bowls! For millennia, these remarkable parrots roamed the forests and mountains of Gondwanaland. But then an all-too familiar story unfolded: man arrived, and soon the kakapo faced centuries of predation. The traits that make this parrot so unique became its undoing: its magnificent plumage, its strangely sweet smell, and its inability to fly rendered the kakapo tragically vulnerable. The Maori hunted the kakapo for its feathers and meat, and then the Pakeha settlers arrived and the kakapo suffered at the jaws of introduced stoats, cats, possums and rats. Before these predators arrived, the kakapo’s only enemy was a giant (now extinct) eagle, so its defence mechanism was to freeze and blend into the foliage—another damning trait when the four-legged foes came on the scene. The kakapo population was soon devastated, dwindling from thousands to a few dozen. In the 1950s, a group of dedicated New Zealanders began an effort to save this remarkable species from total annihilation. Even without Sirocco gracing its shores, Ulva Island is a special place. Step foot on Ulva and step back in time, for Ulva features the ancient forest of primeval Earth. It has been predator-free for a decade, and a variety of birds thrive there including kiwi, kaka, saddlebacks, yellow-eyed and little blue penguins, rifleman, mohua, and the Stewart Island robin. And watch out for the cheeky weka –these amusing, flightless birds are infamous picnic crashers! About the Ulva Island Charitable Trust: “The Ulva Island Charitible Trust was set up in 1998 to help the upgrade of tracks and facilities and we managed to raise about $180,000,” said Peter Goomes, Trust Chairman. “This enabled the Department of Conservation to do most of the work in one season which greatly improved access to the West end of Ulva, and it has made it more popular with the visitors being able to walk around without getting in the mud and concentrating on the bird life and not where to put their feet. “We then decided to keep the Trust in place and now we assist with improvements to the survival of threatened species, kakapo included. We also help with monitoring, extra facilities, and the making of the DVD Primeval Paradise. Funding comes from donations, grants and sales of booklets. And of course we run our major fundraiser Kakapo Encounter.” For more information about Kakapo Encounter, email kakapoencounter@xtra.co.nz to make a booking: stewartisland@i-SITE.org BACK TO KAKAPO ENCOUNTER HOME PAGE |