Our zoo veterinary team and keepers have been assisting our conservation partners at the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery with their routine kākāpō health checks and transmitter changes. Our vet nurse Breeze recently spent 14 days on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.
Three teams would head out into the field each day using telemetry (radio transmitters) to locate, catch up and health check 2-3 birds per team. These clever birds can be found down burrows and up trees so you have to keep your wits about you! Here Breeze and the DOC rangers are health checking two 5-year-old males, Tūtānekai and Kohitatea.
“I find it so fascinating how each kākāpō can have such different personalities and most tolerate handling incredibly well. It was pretty special to see some of the birds I haven’t seen before, such as Nora, who was found on Rakiura/Stewart Island in 1980 and has been alive longer than me! I have looked after some of her chicks in the past, so it was wonderful to see her in person.”
