BirdingNZ.net

09/12/2010
A group of kakapo "studs" have become victims of their own success with the ladies.

The Conservation Department is planning to move the frisky males off their sanctuary island and on to the mainland – in order to give those birds having less luck with the females a better chance.

Kakapo live on Codfish Island, or Whenua Hou, off Stewart Island, and on Anchor Island in Dusky Sound, but kakapo recovery programme acting manager Ron Moorhouse said a move to near Cambridge could be "on the cards" for some.

Under an intensively managed recovery programme, kakapo have been pulled back from the brink of extinction, though there are still only 122 birds now living.

With such a small population, it was important to prevent a genetic bottleneck that could increase the risk of deformities or abnormalities, Mr Moorhouse said.

"Over successive years we've had this small group of males becoming over-represented in the gene pool. They can become victims of their own success and we can't allow that to continue."

There were also birds which appeared to have deformed sperm, and DOC did not want them to breed with healthy females.

"We have the studs – the successful breeders – and the duds, the ones we have reason to doubt their fertility."

DOC is looking for a predator-free mainland site for the birds, and has been talking to the private trust that runs Maungatautari, a 3400-hectare forest surrounded by a predator-proof fence, near Cambridge.

The trust has introduced kaka, but Mr Moorhouse said more consideration needed to be given to ensuring kakapo could be kept inside the sanctuary.

The latest group of "studs" is in addition to three adult and seven young males who were transferred off Codfish Island to another secret island location to reduce competition in this breeding season. However, Mr Moorhouse said doing this every year was impractical and expensive.

While the public were unlikely to see kakapo if they were returned to the mainland – they are scared of people and nocturnal – they would definitely hear their distinctive boom, which Mr Moorhouse described as like a person blowing loudly over a glass bottle.

This year is the 20th year of the kakapo recovery programme, on which DOC spends about $700,000 a year and to which Rio Tinto contributes $200,000.

Rangers are hoping for up to 19 nests on Codfish Island this year – kakapo can lay two or three eggs – and have their fingers crossed that those on Anchor will breed for the first time.

There were also birds which appeared to have deformed sperm, and DOC did not want them to breed with healthy females.

Neil Fitzgerald wrote:... the sanctuary that I wont go into.