Kākāpō ranger diary 7 July
Kākāpō
For the first time ever we have kākāpō chicks on Anchor! Four chicks were transferred here from Codfish Island and are being kept in a pen for a few more weeks before being released into their new Fiordland home.
We have also reached another milestone as our first few chicks have been weaned from crop feeding. This is from the 26 that were taken to Invercargill for hand-rearing earlier this year. They are doing really well and munching lots of vegetation, apples, carrots, kumara and generally being happy, healthy kakapo!
A total of 16 adults (including 12 females) have now been transferred from Whenua Hou, selected to be good genetic matches for the already resident males on Anchor. The new arrivals have made the island eventful and busy as they settle in and begin finding new home ranges. A few have already taken up residence in the coastal areas making it quite the challenge to find them off track. Our good friend Rooster (one of last year's chicks) has also returned from a stint in recovery from an infection at Auckland Zoo and has quickly settled in and is enjoying freedom in his new home.
The four youngest additions to Anchor have had their vaccinations. They didn't seem to mind too much being poked with needles as it was all over and done with very quickly and they were back to their normal cheeky selves straight away. Overall, Anchor is an exciting and busy place to be with chicks, adult kākāpō new and old and rangers running around the island keeping things in order.
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