Kākāpō Files II

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Kākāpō health concerns continue May 29, 2019

Show notes

The number of cases of aspergillosis in the kākāpō population continues to rise, with 30 birds on the mainland for testing & treatment. The deaths of Huhana and Merty drop the adult population to 142, in episode 19 of the Kākāpō Files.

The number of cases of aspergillosis in the kākāpō population continues to rise. The fungal disease has already caused the deaths of two adult females and three chicks, and it has now been confirmed in a further two adult females and six chicks.

Twenty two kākāpō are already in veterinary hospitals for testing and treatment of aspergillosis as well as other medical conditions, and they are about to be joined by a further eight birds from Whenua Hou / Codfish Island.

The disease continues to be confined to Whenua Hou. Four chicks from Anchor Island are in treatment but do not have aspergillosis.

The adult kākāpō population has dropped to 142 birds, following the death of 10-year-old Huhana, while the founder male Merty has been declared dead after not being seen for five years. There are 73 living chicks.

The adult females Hoki and Huhana have already died from aspergillosis, while Weheruatanga-O-Te-Po and Margaret-Maree have been confirmed with the disease. A number of chicks, including Nora-1-A and Pura-1-B, have also been confirmed with the fungal infection.

The female Pounamu has tested negative for aspergillosis.

Four chicks from Anchor island that were sent to Massey University's Wildbase Hospital with suspected aspergillosis following unexplained weight loss have been CT scanned and are negative for the disease.

The founder male Merv is being sent off Whenua Hou for ophthalmological treatment for suspected cataracts in both eyes.

The six youngest chicks that were still in nests on Whenua Hou have been brought into a pen for hand-rearing, in an effort to remove them from nests that may contain high numbers of aspergillosis spores following a warm, wet autumn.

Update 3 JUNE

The founder female Cyndy and a further four chicks have been sent to the mainland with suspected aspergillosis, bringing the number of birds in treatment to 35.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Worrying times for kākāpō May 15, 2019

Show notes

A spate of kākāpō chicks deaths from a fungal pneumonia caused by aspergillosis has DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Team very worried. Two further adult deaths bring the population to 144 birds with 73 living chicks, all in episode 18 of the Kākāpō Files.

The fungal disease aspergillosis has caused the deaths of three kākāpō chicks in the past week. This is in addition to an adult kākāpō which died from the same disease just over two weeks ago.

The fearsome fungus has the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Team and wildlife vets around the world scrambling to understand what is causing the outbreak, which is unprecedented for the rare parrot.

A further chick and two adult males have also died from other causes in the past fortnight, dropping the kākāpō population to 144 adults and 73 living chicks.

Five kākāpō are currently at Auckland Zoo for investigation and treatment for possible aspergillosis. These include the adult female Weheruatanga-o-te-po and the chick Awarua-3-A.

Auckland Zoo vets carried out CT scans on four of these birds yesterday and are currently waiting for a veterinary radiology specialist in the United States to read the scans.

Auckland Zoo vet Dr James Chatterton, from the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine, says that spores of the aspergillus fungus are ubiquitous in the environment, and only become a problem in stressed and immunocompromised animals.

However, the number of chicks succumbing to the disease after sharing a nest with other infected birds is causing alarm amongst wildlife vets and the Kākāpō Conservation team.

The problem is confined to Whenua Hou Island. There were initial concerns that artificial nest boxes might be contributing to the problem, but it is most prevalent in natural nest cavities.

The adult female Hoki was the first kākāpō to succumb to the disease. Since then, three chicks have also died from aspergillosis: Bella-2-A, Tumeke-4-A and Queenie-4-A.

Daryl Eason says all three chicks "were looking very good until very close to death, and they've all died from aspergillosis."

Aspergillosis is a very difficult disease to treat, says James Chatterton.

"One of the many frustrating problems when we're dealing with fungal infections in birds, is that often by the time the bird shows that it's sick, so by the time it looks lethargic and it's got breathing problems, often by then it's far too late to actually cure it," says James.

"And diagnosing it before the bird looks sick is extremely difficult."

Chick Waikawa-4-B also died this week, and Daryl says her death was not due to aspergillosis and "was an absolute mystery."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Glad and sad kākāpō tidings May 01, 2019

Show notes

The death of Hoki from a fungal infection brings the number of adult kākāpō to 146, while there are 77 chicks. Episode 17 of the Kākāpō Files includes a visit to Anchor Island & all the latest news.

There is good news as well as sad news from the kākāpō islands. Hoki, the first hand-reared kākāpō, has died from a fungal infection, while a surprise third nest from the female Solstice boosted overall egg numbers to 252.

Of 86 kākāpō chicks that hatched this breeding season, 77 are still alive.

Of the 73 chicks that have been sexed, there are 35 females and 38 males.

There is a wide age range of chicks: the youngest chicks are less than two weeks old, while the oldest chicks are fledging and leaving their nests.

The latest numbers

With the sad loss of 27-year-old female Hoki, the adult kākāpō population is now 146 birds. Hoki died from a severe aspergillosis fungal infection in her lungs.

Hoki's foster chick Bella-1-A also succumbed to an aspergillosis infection.

A surprise third nest from Solstice, discovered on Easter Friday, brought the total number of eggs laid this season to 252. Unfortunately the three eggs were all infertile.

One hundred and eighteen eggs were fertile, and 86 chicks hatched.

There are currently 77 chicks alive.

Seventy three chicks have been sexed, and there are 38 males and 35 females. Of the chicks with Fiordland genes, Kuia's second clutch are males, while Gulliver and Suzanne's clutch includes one female and two males.

There is a wide age range of chicks. Sixteen of the oldest chicks have fledged and left their nests, while the youngest chicks, from Stella's second clutch, are still less than two weeks old.

The eight hand-reared chicks are currently in weaning pens on Whenua Hou, learning how to survive in the bush.

Four chicks and the adult male Arab are currently receiving vet care at Auckland Zoo and the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital.

Medical news

Chick Queenie-3-A has been taken off Anchor Island as it is experiencing issues with the leg that it broke when it was three days old.

Waikawa-4-B is being treated for a respiratory issue.

Esperance-1-B has had brain surgery to treat the brain hernia where its skull plates hadn't joined properly.

Auckland Zoo vets are still deciding what to do with the damaged eye of the adult male Arab.

Update 2 May 2019

The death of the founder male Arab, from surgical complications, brings the adult kākāpō population to 145.

DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Programme senior technical officer says that the female Solstice is now fostering the chick Kuihi=3-B. This is the first time she has raised a chick and Daryl says she is feeding it well…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Longest kākāpō breeding season Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

With 75 living chicks and the final three eggs due to hatch this week, the 2019 kākāpō breeding season is set to be the longest on record.

The number of living kākāpō chicks has risen to 75, with the final three due to hatch this week.

The oldest chicks are already beginning to leave their nests at night although they are still returning to sleep there during the day.

Daryl Eason, from the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery team, says that the sex ratio of the first 49 chicks to be tested is 22 females and 27 males.

The technique for determining the gender of kākāpō, using either a small blood sample or tiny amounts of membrane left in the eggshell after hatching, was developed by Associate Professor Bruce Robertson at the University of Otago.

This season, a genomics team at Agresearch is carrying out the DNA analyses to determine both gender and paternity of all the chicks. Jeanne Jacobs says the team is currently determining the paternity of the chicks, which will prove whether any of the artificial insemination attempts have been successful. The scientists will also determine the gender of the remaining chicks.

As well as analysing living chicks, sex and paternity is also determined for dead chicks and failed fertile eggs.

The long breeding season

The first chick of the 2019 breeding season hatched on 30 January, and with the final one due to hatch this Friday 19 April, this breeding season will hold the records for both the earliest start and latest end to a breeding season.

Scientist Andrew Digby says the extended breeding season is the result of a large number of females renesting.

The total number of chicks hatched so far in this year's bumper kākāpō breeding season is 83, and if three eggs due to hatch this week are successful it will bring the total number of chicks for this breedign season to 86. The remaining eggs were laid by Stella, who was the last female to mate.

There have been 8 chick deaths. The most recent chick death is Pura-3-A, who died suddenly. Cause of death is still being determined, but appears to be liver failure.

Two of the chicks in Hoki's nest have been moved to other nests after their growth rates slowed down. Hoki herself now weighs less than a kilogram, while her three chicks together weighed four kilograms, and Daryl Eason says she was probably just struggling to feed them. The kākāpō team will be giving her a health check and hope that she will be able to cope with her one remaining foster chick.

Leaving home

The first wild kākāpō chicks on Anchor Island are beginning to explore away from the nest at night, although they return during the day to sleep…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Kākāpō chicks still hatching Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

Most of the 72 kākāpō chicks are thriving in wild nests, the males are winding down their booming, and there are 7 fertile eggs still to hatch.

Ripe rimu fruits carpet the trees and ground on Whenua Hou and Anchor islands, and most of the 72 living kākāpō chicks are in wild nests, where they are being well-fed by their foster mums. The chicks are putting on lots of weight and are well above average on the kākāpō 'Plunket' charts.

Deidre Vercoe, manager of the Kākāpō Recovery Team from the Department of Conservation, says a grand total of 249 eggs were laid in this bumper kākāpō season. "It's a staggering number," says Deidre.

The total number of chicks hatched so far in this year's bumper kākāpō breeding season is 79, and there have been seven chick deaths. There are still seven fertile eggs, which are due to hatch between now and Easter.

Deidre says she is "very happy with where we are at the moment."

Five kākāpō mums are raising clutches of three chicks, and most other nests have two chicks.

Queenie-3-A, the chick that had a broken leg, has completely healed and is being returned to a wild nest on Anchor Island.

Eight chicks are being hand-reared in Invercargill.

Kākāpō scientist Andrew Digby says that male kākāpō are still booming but are beginning to wind down. He says the males are starting to scrap amongst themselves, and he hears a lot of skrarking at night.

Our Changing World kākāpō stories:

What kākāpō genes can tell us
Kākāpō sperm collection and artificial insemination in the 2009 breeding season
The discovery of the ‘lost’ kākāpō Rangi and the frozen sperm bank, from the 2009 breeding season
Science in kākāpō management, from the 2009 breeding season

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Kotahitanga and kākāpō Mar 22, 2019

Show notes

Kākāpō chick numbers continue to climb. The latest tally is 64 chicks, including one named Kotahitanga, meaning unity and solidarity.

The number of living kākāpō chicks has risen to 64, with plenty more due to hatch in the next few days.

Among the chicks is one that hatched early in the morning of Saturday 16 March 2019, the day after the mass terror shooting in Christchurch. The Kākāpō Recovery Team has named that chick Kotahitanga, meaning unity or solidarity.

Kotahitanga's mother is eight-year-old Waikawa, who has laid an incredible eight fertile eggs this breeding season, adding to four fertile eggs she laid in in the last breeding season in 2016.

The total number of chicks hatched in this year's bumper kākāpō breeding season is 71, and there have been 7 chick deaths.

As of early evening on 22 March, there are a further four eggs pipping and about to hatch.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Fat happy kākāpō chicks Mar 15, 2019

Show notes

Thirty four kākāpō chicks are putting on plenty of weight in wild nests as the rimu fruit ripens, and 23 chicks are also being hand-reared, in episode 13 of the Kākāpō Files.

This year's kākāpō breeding season has broken all records, with 239 eggs laid and more on the way.

One hundred and ten eggs are known to be fertile, and a further 10 eggs will have their fertility confirmed in the next few days.

Deidre Vercoe, manager of the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Programme, says that there are currently 57 chicks alive, out of 61 that have hatched.

Thirty four chicks are with wild mothers in nests on both Whenua Hou / Codfish Island and on Anchor Island, and the remaining 23 chicks are in a hand-rearing facility in Invercargill.

Deidre Vercoe says that the ground on Anchor Island, in Fiordland's Dusky Sound, is covered with ripe rimu fruit falling off the trees above, which is providing plenty of food for the chicks.

Kākāpō Recovery Programme scientist Andrew Digby says that the 34 kākāpō chicks that have been fostered to wild mothers are thriving, and their weights are trending well above average for their ages.

Rimu fruit is so abundant on Anchor island, where some of the chicks are already a month old, that most kākāpō mums have been given two chicks to raise.

Hauturu is currently managing to feed three chicks, and Andrew says that it's probably the first time in more than a century that anyone has seen a female kākāpō in a nest with three chicks.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Kākāpō helpers Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

Volunteers from around the world are helping the kākāpō team, with tasks ranging from feeding birds and people, looking after the power system on Whenua Hou and studying kākāpō sperm. We meet them in episode 12 of the Kākāpō Files.

Volunteers are coming from around the world to help with the largest kākāpō breeding season on record.

As the rimu fruit begins to ripen wild kākāpō mothers are being given chicks to look after.

And the egg tally has risen to 223, with 53 living chicks - and still more on the way.

Saving kākāpō is an international effort, with volunteers and visiting experts helping out in various ways.

Electrician Reuben's usual day job is looking after hydropower stations for the Kākāpō Recovery Programme's sponsor Meridian Energy. But a couple of times a year he downsizes and heads to Whenua Hou / Codfish Island to give its power system a health check.

The electricity generation system has evolved over many years and includes a diesel generator, a mini hydro scheme and solar panels.

The electricity is vital for running egg incubators and chick brooders, so Reuben has to keep the system running while he fixes and repairs and improves things.

He likens it to trying to do a service on car while it is full of passengers and driving at a hundred kilometres an hour on the open road.

Feeding the birds

Ian and Mark live in Bristol in the UK but flew - at their own expense - to New Zealand for the opportunity to help out with the kākāpō supplementary feeding programme for 10 days.

Each kākāpō gets a personalised meal plan with a certain amount of parrot pellets. The task of the feed-out volunteers is to prepare the food, then deliver it around the island to each bird's feeding station. They remove any uneaten food, clean the feeding station and replace the freshwater. Each bird gets fed every few days.

Feeding the people

Shrike is an Australian who was keen to be involved in this kākāpō breeding season but didn't think she was up to the feed-out role. So instead of feeding birds she has volunteered to be cook and has the job of feeding all the people on the island, which can number around 16.

Shrike says she has to deal with a range of dietary requirements, get dinner on the table in time for people to head up the hill for the night shift while it is still light. She also gets the opportunity to help out the kākāpō team in the field.

Sperm experts

Helena and Andi are part of a team of four sperm experts from Germany who have been part of the assisted breeding programme. They help collect sperm from male kākāpō and artificially inseminate the females…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Kākāpō rangers Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

There is a hard-working team of island rangers helping save kākāpō, working day and night, and the chick tally has reached 44, in episode 11 of the Kākāpō Files.

Well over 200 eggs have been laid and 46 chicks are alive in the largest kākāpō breeding season on record. It is also the earliest and longest breeding season, and the Kākāpō Recovery Team at the Department of Conservation says the end is not yet in sight.

In this episode of the Kākāpō Files we chat with some of the busy island rangers, and discover that their jobs are numerous and varied.

The logistics of moving teams of people to and from remote islands includes booking helicopter and fixed wing flights, and walking the beach runway on Whenua Hou to mark out the safest landing route.

Keeping everyone well fed involves ordering hundreds of kilos of fresh food each week. Bulk dried and tinned goods, along with diesel for the generator and coal for the fire were delivered in a bulk supply run before the breeding season began.

Rangers oversee the delivery of supplementary food to breeding birds, carry gear and set up tents and electronic equipment at kākāpō nests, collect information about all the birds and enter it in the database.

While some rangers work at nests at night to candle eggs for fertility, or foster chicks to kākāpō mums, one ranger - the nest controller - remains at the hut to oversee all the information gathered by surveillance equipment deployed at most nests. This information is all relayed through a specially developed piece of software known as the Train Station.

The latest news on eggs and chicks

As of 1 March 2019, 217 kākāpō eggs have been laid, on both Anchor Island and Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.

Mating continues and eggs continue to be laid.

Ninety six eggs are fertile and 48 chicks have hatched to date. This is one more than the previous best of 47, set in 2016. Two chicks have died, and a further two chicks died during hatching.

There are 46 chicks alive, being hand-raised in four different locations: Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, a special rearing unit in Invercargill, and on Anchor Island and Whenua Hou.

Growing numbers of chicks are being fostered to wild kākāpō mothers.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Flying kākāpō sperm Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

In a world-first for kākāpō conservation, a drone (nicknamed the 'spermcopter') has flown kākāpō sperm across Whenua Hou / Codfish Island - the Kākāpō Files was there for episode 10.

In a world-first for kākāpō conservation, the Department of Conservation's Kākāpō Recovery Team has used a drone to fly the flightless bird's sperm across Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.

The sperm, collected from the male kākāpō Arab and Stumpy was flown by the well-nicknamed 'spermcopter' and then used to artificially inseminate the female Esperance.

Kākāpō manager Deidre Vercoe says that she is delighted that the sperm delivery worked, and says it speeds up the process of artificial insemination (AI), hopefully increasing its effectiveness.

She says that it can up to several hours to walk from where the sperm is collected to where it is needed, whereas the drone can deliver it in less than 10 minutes.

This helps ensure the sperm is fresher when it is used in AI.

Scientist Andrew Digby says that the Kākāpō Recovery Team has been using AI for more than a decade. Three chicks were successfully fathered by AI in one breeding season, but the team has had less success in recent years.

Andrew says there are several reasons they use AI as a management tool. It allows them to genetically matchmake kākāpō, which is vital as the population descended from Stewart Island birds is very inbred. They are focusing, in particular, on using sperm from two birds with Fiordland heritage as they have a much more genetically diverse.

He says that AI should also boost the likelihood that resulting eggs will be fertile. The fertility of eggs laid by a female who has mated several times with different males is significantly better than females that mate once with a single male.

The Kākāpō Recovery team reports that it has carried out 11 artificial inseminations during this breeding season, but it won't know if it has been successful until paternity tests are carried out in a few months.

The latest news on eggs and chicks

As of 21 February 2019, 189 kākāpō eggs have been laid (90 on Anchor Island and 98 on Whenua Hou).

Of those, 83 have been fertile, and the fertility of a further 12 is still waiting confirmation.

Nineteen eggs have died before hatching.

Thirty eight chicks have hatched, and after one death 37 chicks are still alive. Twenty six viable eggs are yet to hatch.

Ten females have nested for a second time, after their first clutches were taken to be incubated artificially.

The first chick from the second round of mating, Pearl-2-B, has already hatched. Pearl was the first female to mate in mid-December and the first to re-mate…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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