Kakapos are world-famous for
their bizarre appearance, and their rarity. With a global population of merely
123 adults, a bumper breeding season looks set to increase their population by
nearly a third
By Christina Holvey
2 August 2016
In a land renowned for unusual
creatures, New Zealand’s "owl parrot" or kakapo is surely a candidate
for the most outrageous. The size of a small dog but with stature of a penguin,
this large, rotund bird has an owl shaped head and cat-like whiskers.
Being the heavyweight of the
parrot world means the kakapo is flightless, and preferring its own nocturnal
company makes it pretty antisocial too. One aspect the kakapo has in common
with some of its airborne cousins is extreme longevity, with certain
individuals known to live for 120 years.
Befitting a bird that is in it
for the long haul they are also notoriously picky breeders, only attempting to
reproduce once every three to five years and coinciding with when their
favourite food, the fruit of the rimu tree, is in plentiful supply.
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