Episode Details

The kākāpō eggs are hatching, and chicks are being hand-reared or returned to their mother's nest... but not every chick is thriving.

This episode was first released on 12 March 2020.

The 2019 kākāpō breeding season set many records. It was the earliest, the longest - and of course, the biggest breeding season ever recorded.

Two hundred and fifty two kākāpō eggs were laid over three months, starting on Christmas Day 2018.

They began hatching at the end of January 2019, when Kohitatea became the earliest kākāpō chick ever to hatch.

The last chick to hatch, on 20 April 2019 was Stella's chick Manawanui.

Many chicks were hand-reared, by a team of wildlife experts from many places, including Auckland Zoo.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details