Kākāpō ranger diary May 2009
Kākāpō chick
This update is coming direct to you from cold Invercargill! Inside it is a hive of activity as it's where we are hand rearing 26 of this year's chicks.
Hand-rearing on this scale is the kind of madness not even Daryl would dream of. The chicks here have all come off the island due to the fact that they were either ill or not putting on weight at the required rate, a sure sign mum isn't coping with her precious young charges.
It's a far cry from those long summer days out and about on Codfish Island finding mating sign and nests, then later on racing around those nests at night checking on eggs and chicks but it really is the business end of the season now. The goal of fully fledged juvenile kākāpō is almost in sight now and getting closer with every new green feather that grows.
We have had a raft of health issues since hatching began, one of the more major and traumatic ones was 'Bluster' who was attacked in the nest by the adult male Arab. One and a half hours of surgery later with a scar stretching the length of his body and two toes less he is one tough little kakapo. Little 'Esperance 3' also had surgery to repair a suspected prolapsed intestine that Lisa the vet thought might have torn. Luckily her problems weren't as serious as we first thought and she has pulled through fine and is back to eating berries with her friends. Lots of the birds have also had illnesses, which have kept our amazingly hard-working vets Joanne (who came all the way from the US to work for us for free!) and Lisa from Massey University extremely busy.
Despite all the up's and down's of hand rearing all 26 chicks are doing well. Within the next couple of months they were all be going on their next adventure back to the islands. We can't wait to see them back in the wild foraging and learning all the things they need to know to be successful. That is when all of us and all the amazing volunteers and people who have helped along the way (you know who you are!) will be able to relax a little and feel that lump in our throats as they head off into the big wide green world!
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