Kākāpō

A kākāpō.

Scientific name: Strigops habroptilus

The kākāpō is a flightless nocturnal parrot that was once found all over New Zealand.Today, like the magical Graphorn, only a small population remains.

The kākāpō came close to extinction in the late twentieth century. This followed many years of hunting by people and the cats, rats and stoats introduced to the islands by human settlers.

Conservationists moved all remaining birds to predator-free reserves in the 1980s, launching an intensive breeding programme to help save the species.