Kakapo Group

Strigops habroptilus. Also owl parrot. New Zealand. Mounted specimens, 1884.

The NHM is one of the few museums in the world that not only possesses an entire group of the very rare kakapo, but has them displayed in a historic diorama.

ASOCIAL NEW ZEALANDERS
“The owl parrot is a strange, true New Zealander,” wrote Austrian explorer Andreas Reischek in his diary, and “of all birds, they are the most asocial.”
Reischek was a taxidermist, ethnographer, and ornithologist and spent twelve years in New Zealand starting in 1877. He spent months exploring the wilderness on several expeditions on his own, winning the trust of the Maoris and thereby gaining access to areas that no other European had been allowed to enter. “Andreas Reischek, the kiwi, Prince of Austria” – such was his Maori honorary title – brought 16,000 bird skins back to Vienna and created the kakapo diorama at the NHM. Almost a hundred years ago, he evidently drew attention to the endangered state of the kakapos and demanded conservation measures. However it was not until the 1980s, when there are only about 22 kakapos left, that the last desperate measures to save these birds brought some success.
The self-willed bird put paid to many attempts to preserve the species because of its way of life. It breeds on the ground, has no flight instinct, is nocturnal, curious and flightless, but can travel many kilometers on foot. For their protection, in 1995 all the kakapos were resettled on two islands free of predators off the coast of New Zealand. However, the right food for the female was lacking there; she only breeds from age ten and then not every year.
After many setbacks, the number of kakapos has now risen to more than 120 again. Whether that is enough for the survival of the species is by no means clear.