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Kakapo Rooster flies south in style
26 June 2009
Fifteen-month-old kakapo Rooster had the back row of an Air New Zealand plane all to himself for the early morning Auckland-Christchurch leg of his journey to his new home, Anchor Island, following a two-month stay at Auckland Zoo.
The young "laid back" male, who vet staff at the zoo's New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM) quickly came to love, was being treated for a serious vent wound and weight loss.
"When Rooster came to us in late April he was just over 1.4kg, on the light side for a kakapo, believed to be the result of an injury from a sharp stick. Luckily this was found soon after it happened when he was caught up to stop him interfering with other nesting kakpo on Codfish Island," says senior zoo vet, Dr Jakob-Hoff.
Dr Jakob-Hoff says even with a serious wound, his demeanour was very relaxed, and he was bright and behaving normally, which certainly helped his recovery. With supplementary feeding of a parrot formula and giving him a good variety of fruit and vegetables and fruiting native plants to self feed on, the team bumped his weight up to a healthy 1.85kg. Through treatment his wound has now also completely healed.
"Kakapo really are spectacular birds and he's a particularly lovely-natured one, so it was a real privilege to nurse him back to health. We hope he enjoys his new home - and stays out of trouble. He certainly got off to a great start. Air New Zealand staff were fantastic and enabled me to go on board and see him, within his carry box, safely strapped in to his seat. In fact he had the whole back row," says Dr Jakob-Hoff.
Born on Codfish Island, Rooster is one of a number of kakapo recently moved to the predator-free sanctuary Anchor Island in Dusky Sound, southwest Fiordland, by the Department of Conservation's (DOC) National Kakapo Team.
Auckland Zoo is the veterinary supplier for DOC's Kakapo Recovery Programme, and has been closely involved in helping out this season, a bumper year that has seen the kakapo population rise from 91 to 124. For more about kakapo visit www.kakaporecovery.org.nz.