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Kākāpō Files II 14 | Biggest Kākāpō Breeding Season
Description
DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme says that the 2026 kākāpō breeding season is officially the biggest on record, and that all chicks have now hatched. At least 256 eggs were laid in 80 nests, of which at least 106 hatched. There are currently 99 chicks alive, three of which are being treated at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital for various health problems. The oldest chick, Tīwhiri-A1-2026, is 46-days old and weighs 1.8 kg, while the youngest chick, Awarua-A3-2026, weighs 26 grams at 2-days old. Operations manager Deidre Vercoe says that preliminary sexing results show that about 40 percent of the chicks are female, and that rangers are starting to give the older chicks a permanent microchip for identification.
Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.
In this episode:
00:00 – Introduction
01:16 – Deidre Vercoe with final nest and egg numbers
05:41 – Final chick hatching numbers
11:09 – Planning ahead
13:45 – Dunedin Wildlife Hospital vet Dr Lisa Argilla
20:32 – Rimu fruiting & its role in breeding
27.30 – Supplementary feeding on Whenua Hou
32:10 - Closing credits
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