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Voice of the Kākāpō 05 | Kākāpō sperm takes to the air
Season 3
Episode 5
Published 11 months, 1 week ago
Description
The tally of infertile eggs is climbing and the kākāpō team is using artificial insemination - and a drone - to try and counter the problem.
This episode was first released on 10 March 2020.
The 2019 kākāpō breeding season was one for the record books, but it had more than its fair share of problems, including the fact that more than half of the eggs laid were infertile.
It's an ongoing issue, not helped by the birds' low genetic diversity. The Kākāpō Recovery team are using artificial insemination as part of their genetic matchmaking efforts, and have turned to a drone to speed the process of sperm delivery.