Meet The Endangered: Kākāpō
Kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus)
The world’s only flightless parrot is sometimes called "The Owl-Faced Parrot”, on account of its distinctive, strigine facial features. Like owls, they are nocturnal. Yet kākāpōs are herbivores and live much longer, with lifespans possibly in excess of 100 years.
The kākāpō was heavily hunted in the past, and once served as a valued source of meat for New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people. However, introduced mammals like cats, rats and ferrets nearly wiped them out. Today fewer than 250 individuals remain, cloistered on small islets off the South Island’s coast.
By far the most famous of this remnant population is Sirocco - a male born in captivity in 1997. Sirocco fell ill as a young chick and was thereafter removed from his mother’s care for medical treatment. As a result Sirocco imprinted with his human carers and has never been able to integrate with his own kind.
This led to a famous incident in 2009, in which Sirocco tried to mate with BBC presenter Mark Carwardine while filming a nature documentary. Comedian Stephen Fry was present and quipped “Sorry, but this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. You are being shagged by a rare parrot.”
The resulting viral video made the kākāpō one of the world’s most recognized endangered species and Sirocco has since served as a sort of public mascot for kākāpō conservation.
IUCN: Critically Endangered (CR)