Sirocco the kakapo |

Kakapo on the move!

Sirocco the Spokesbird — 19/11/2010

Skraaaaaark! Sirocco here…coming to you from my choice new home on Maud Island, in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

It’s been a strange time – first they flew me up here (First Class, Box), and I got to meet some great children at a school in Nelson. When I arrived, there was a big ceremony befitting a celebrity such as myself. My friends from Ngai Tahu passed me over to Ngati Kuia who look after Maud Island – or Te Hoiere as they call it.

There was great singing, we shared a hongi – that’s the traditional greeting of touching noses. It’s not easy doing that with a beak but I took a stab at it…no-one was hurt so all good!

Checking out my new home...

We then went for a tour – in the water there’s beautiful phosphorescence which sparkles like my eyes… I remembered it from when I was here before – the rangers had gone swimming in the water and I didn’t want to be left out, so I ran along the jetty and jumped in! They all looked a bit worried but I just did my kakapo butterfly stroke and swam back to shore. As Mark Carwardine learned, you should never underestimate a kakapo.

It’s a great place here – plenty of frogs, glow worms and giant weta to keep me company. But the one thing I wanted to know was – why am I here?!

After a bit of digging (and a bit of nibbling, a bit of hopping and a touch of head-jumping) I managed to get the truth out of the rangers here, Leigh and Richard.

You all know that I am the Official Spokesbird for Conservation…well, I’m soon to be Official Kakapo Ambassador, a position created especially for me! It’s all a bit secret at the moment, but after I’ve settled in for a while here, the plan is for me to do a few special guest appearances around the country. I still remember going to Auckland Zoo a while back and being treated like a rock star…more of the same please!

But that won’t be for a while. Meantime, I’m having fun with the rangers and their children Mahina and Liam, and I know there’ll be a few local school parties coming to visit me soon.

One other thing – these people came along and put me in a cage – the cheek of it! So I escaped…and when they put me in again, I escaped again! I realised later that they were nice people from a place called Maungatautari, in Waikato, where they’ve built a huge fenced sanctuary to protect endangered species (like me).

Apparently the fence is great for keeping predators out – but not so good for keeping clever parrots like me in! Hopefully I’ve given them some ideas on how to make it better, in case one day some of my mates get to live in a fenced sanctuary.

So lots of fun here – life’s pretty good right now for this kakapo.

PS – big ups to Air NZ for flying us up to Maud for free! Many thanks guys!

In Native animals, Nelson/Marlborough, Sirocco the kakapo, Southland

My mates at DOC win awards for conservation!

Sirocco the Spokesbird — 12/10/2010

Skraark! Sirocco the Kakapo here. Humble and unassuming as I may be, I’m always happy when someone tells me how fantastic I am… But this time it’s my turn to pass on the praise, because those nice folk at DOC have been picking up a few awards so I wanted to tell you all about it!

Up near Auckland (I’ve been there) are a couple of islands called Rangitoto and Motutapu. DOC has been clearing the islands of pests – I mean the small furry pests that eat native birds, not pests like me who jump on people’s heads – so that all my lovely birdy cousins can live there safely.

Motutapu Island as seen from the summit of Rangitoto Island

Now the islands are clear, all sorts of native birds are going back – kakariki, bellbird, pateke, and maybe kiwi and takahe in the future. Who knows, maybe some of my lot might end up there! Anyway, this project picked up an award from a group called the Parks Forum which has members all over the world, so it’s good to know that the work being done here is as famous internationally as… well, as me!

Kakariki return to Rangitoto and Motutapu islands

The Parks Forum people also gave DOC an award for helping create the fantastic Otago Central Rail Trail. Apparently this is for bicycles, not for trains, and as I’m not very good at peddling I’ve not been there. But 20,000 of you lovely people use it each year and it’s helped transform the area. So good on you guys, what a great way of taking something old and bringing it up to date (there are a couple of rangers I know who could use the same treatment)!

Otago Central Rail Trail

Finally, I heard this from one of my lovely friends on Facebook. A new book* about conservation says this:

“The prevention of the Kakapo’s extinction & the relatively rosy future it now faces represent one of the great achievements in global bird conservation. New Zealand has been at the forefront of… developing & implementing conservation solutions for species on the brink of extinction since the pioneering efforts of Richard Henry… The country’s conservation agencies, helped enormously by a steady stream of volunteers & donors, who have invested so much time, money & effort in trying to prevent the extinction of the Kakapo & many other extraordinary birds, have earned the enduring respect of the international conservation community.”

They’ve certainly got my respect, which is why I get up close and personal with them at any opportunity! So a big wings-up to all the DOC team, the volunteers, and the lovely folk at Rio Tinto who are paying for most of this… okay enough, it’s starting to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech!

An Oscar? Hmm, that’s something I haven’t done yet…

Links:

Rangitoto and Motutapu islands restoration project

Rangitoto and Motutapu restoration project wins international honours, media release

Native birds

Parks Forum

DOC wins international honours for conservation

Otago Central Rail Trail

*Facing Extinction – the World’s rarest birds and the race to save them. Paul Donald, Nigel Collar, Stuart Marsden, Debbie Pain. A&C Black publishers.

In Animal pests, Auckland, Native animals, Otago, Recreation, Sirocco the kakapo, Southland

Sirocco supports DOC rangers in their fight to save kiwi

Sirocco the Spokesbird — 10/08/2010

I’m a sad Sirocco today. If I could fly I’d be heading off to Pukaha Mount Bruce to support my kiwi friends who are dying at the hands, or should I say jaws, of a ferret.

Nine have died in the last month – it shows how deadly these predators like ferrets and stoats can be when they get in amongst the likes of us chubby birds. We need people like the DOC rangers looking after us – and I know they’re doing everything they can up there on Pukaha Mount Bruce.

A kiwi at Pukaha Mount Bruce. Photo: Mike Heydon, Jet Photography.

It’s a real tricky one. The safest place for kākāpō like me, my mates the kiwi and lots of other native New Zealand birds and animals are the special islands where DOC has got rid of the predators so we can be safe. But if we’re ever going to get back on the mainland, which used to be our home, we need places like Pukaha Mount Bruce where they’re trying to keep a large area safe but without fences which cost a lot of money.

They’re using 540 traps targeting ferrets, stoats and weasels, and more than 1,000 bait stations aimed at rats and possums – that’s twice as many as anywhere else in the country in terms of traps per area. But still the bad guys get in.

So good luck DOC rangers – they’re bringing in the dogs now to hunt down the ferret. A big WOOF to you guys, and a BOOM from me to all my kiwi mates – hang in there guys, there’s a lot of good people fighting in your corner.

Links

Media releases:

In Animal pests, Native animals, Sirocco the kakapo

Wingin’ it for conservation

Sirocco the Spokesbird — 10/08/2010

Be on the look-out for some over-sized kākāpō heading your way. Since the International Day of Biodiversity last May, DOC’s two steel-mesh kākāpō have been travelling around gathering conservation messages from people all over New Zealand. That’s a good thing since they were both looking a little down on their luck until their feather messages started appearing. Now they are sporting plumage that any kākāpō would be proud of.

Kids at Miramar North School recently had a special visitor. Photo courtesy Citylife Newspapers.

I’m pretty stoked on the messages that are being put on the two kākāpō too. My favourite so far is “kiss a kākāpō”, but don’t worry people are looking out for all us native plants and animals…like the person who wrote “native bats need protection too”.

During Conservation Week all those special feathers are going to be collected by my friends at DOC and then sent to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan so that world leaders can hear how Kiwi feel about their environment.

Check out Words on a Wing to learn how you can have your say whether one of the over-sized green kākāpō comes to your town or not. DOC staff have been getting messages from people all over the country and they’re putting every one of those feathers on the two kākāpō.

What’s in a name?

A lot if you’re a big kākāpō. So, if you’re in Wellington in the next couple of weeks go visit one of the kākāpō at Te Papa’s Nature Space. Add a feather message and enter the kākāpō naming competition to help the poor bugger get a proper name.

Some pretty cool bird experts like my mate Deidre from DOC’s kākāpō recovery programme will be choosing the winner of the naming competition. The competition winner receives an annual pass for them and their family to ZEALANDIA. Not only that, but I’ll be announcing the winning name!