The Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) is a mega awesome bird. Kakapo is friendliest parrot in the universe and also crazy&cool. Kakapo smells good. Kakapo can't fly because Kakapo is like human and also big amazing. Kakapo is most heavy parrot. Kakapo is great pet. There are 150 Kakapo in the world but they are still so amazing it don't matter there will be 1 million Kakapo in 2030 so everybody can get the awesome Kakapo pets.
Appearance[]
The Kakapo is a large and stoat bird, with males measuring up to 24 inches and weighing 4 to 9 pounds. The plumage is mainly moss-green, with the chest and underbelly being more yellowish. There is weak brown-gray mottling across the feathers. The eyes are dark, the beak and feet horn-colored to gray. One of the most prominent characteristics is the dome-sharped head, much like that of an owl, which contains the sensory whisker-like feathers used in nocturnal foraging.
Behavior[]
The Kakapo is mainly nocturnal, roosting under trees or on the ground during the day and foraging and roaming at night. While they cannot fly, Kakapos are excellent climbers and have strong legs. Younger birds will often play-fight.
Conservation[]
The Kakapo was adapted to having very few predators (mainly other birds). This is why, unlike other birds, they have a strong scent and are flightless - which can help them escape birds, but not humans. At a time, even when hunted for food by natives, the Kakapo was the third most common bird in New Zealand. However, European settlers aggravated the problem by killing or capturing kakapos for museums, zoos, and the pet trade.
As early as the 1840's, introduced grazing species such as rabbits and deer outcompeted Kakapos for food, and their habitat was being destroyed for farmland, By the 1870's, it was apparent that Kakapo populations were declining. About a decade later, large numbers of weasels were released into New Zealand - apparently to control the rabbit problems. However, the mustelids mainly ignored the rabbits and instead attacked and killed hundreds of native birds.. especially the Kakapo.
In the 1950's, the New Zealand government made regular expiditions to search for Kakapos. However, they were nearly extinct in the wild by 1976. In 1989, a more organized Kakapo Recovery Plan was established, which runs to this day.
In the summer of 2008, the Kakapo population rose to over 100 individuals for the first time since monitoring started. As of March 2014, there are 126 known Kakapos.
