Kākāpō Files
Podrobnosti kanálu
Kākāpō Files
The Kākāpō Files podcast is back with what’s set to be the biggest breeding season of all time for the world’s favourite parrot. Monthly episodes from late May 2026.
Nedávné epizody
45 epizod
Kākāpō Adoption Birds
Half of the chicks from this record-breaking kākāpō breeding season have fledged and left their nests for good, but are still being fed by their mums....
Kākāpō Chicks Growing Up
The tally of confirmed living kākāpō chicks goes down with two further deaths, but gets a welcome boost with the confirmation of a living chick in a p...
Kākāpō Island Diary
Alison Ballance spends a week on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, one of three kākāpō breeding islands. She follows rangers from DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Progr...
Biggest Kākāpō Breeding Season
DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme says that the 2026 kākāpō breeding season is officially the biggest on record, and that all chicks have now hatched. A...
Kākāpō Birth Notices
DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme is thrilled to announce the births of 101 kākāpō chicks, with a few more fertile eggs expected to hatch over the next...
Lots of Kākāpō Babies
The number of kākāpō chicks has climbed to 54, with plenty more fertile eggs still to hatch on Whenua Hou and Pukenui/Anchor Island. Remote monitoring...
Kākāpō Baby Boom
Fourteen kākāpō chicks have hatched in wild nests, where they are being cared for by mums and foster mums. More than a hundred viable fertile eggs hav...
The First Chick
The first chick of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season has successfully hatched on Pukenui/Anchor Island. DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme reports that Tiw...
Nesting Time
Almost 90% of adult female kākāpō of breeding age have mated so far this breeding season, and two thirds of those are nesting. Some birds have already...
Peak Breeding
More than three-quarters of female kākāpō of breeding age have mated so far, and the number of nests is growing rapidly. Kākāpō operations manager Dei...
Full Steam Ahead
The 2026 kākāpō breeding season is all systems go: nearly half of the females of breeding age have mated and so far 15 females are nesting. Technical...
Kākāpō Action Heating Up
There have been 24 kākāpō matings so far, and the number is increasing as mating action heats up on all three breeding islands. Deidre Vercoe, from th...
The First Nest
Early bird Pearl has laid the first eggs of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season but Kākāpō Recovery Programme science advisor Andrew Digby tells Alison Ba...
Any Minute Now
It’s the New Year and we’re in the early days of a big kākāpō breeding season. Daryl Eason from the Kākāpō Team tells Alison Ballance that Esperance a...
Kākāpō Countdown
It’s nearly the New Year and we’re counting down to the start of a big kākāpō breeding season. Island ranger Maddy Whittaker tells Alison Ballance tha...
Meet the Team
It’s the summer solstice and we are waiting for kākāpō breeding to begin. Alison Ballance chats with island ranger Maddy Whittaker, who reports that o...
The Birds Are Back
The Kākāpō Files returns for a second season, to follow everyone’s favourite parrot through what is predicted to be the biggest breeding season on rec...
Introducing: Kākāpō Files II
In 2019 Alison Ballance followed the bumpy, rollercoaster ride that was the kākāpō breeding season. Now she returns, six years on, to do it all over a...
Coming Soon: Voice of Tangaroa
Coming soon to RNZ Podcasts is the new series Voice of Tangaroa, exploring the state of our oceans, and the extraordinary variety of life that calls i...
2022 A Boomer Year for Kākāpō
Alison Ballance joins the kākāpō recovery team on Pukenui Anchor Island to hear how the 2021/2022 kākāpō breeding season is going.
It's been ver...
Kākāpō population hits new high of 213 birds
The youngest kākāpō chick has passed 150 days old, bringing the number of living juveniles to 71 and the overall kākāpō population to 213, in episode...
Kākāpō chicks growing up
The kākāpō chicks are graduating to being juveniles and only seven birds are still sick with aspergillosis, in episode 23 of the Kākāpō Files.
F...
Kākāpō dads revealed
Paternity testing has revealed who the top kākāpō dads are, as well as the success of the artificial insemination programme, in episode 22 of the Kākā...
Kākāpō waiting game
The kākāpō health crisis is stable, with no further cases of aspergillosis diagnosed, and seven hand-reared chicks have been successfully released in...
Behind-the-scenes of the kākāpō health crisis
Kākāpō death toll from aspergillosis rises by one to seven, while nine birds have been given a clean bill of health. Sad and positive news from the fr...
Kākāpō health concerns continue
The number of cases of aspergillosis in the kākāpō population continues to rise, with 30 birds on the mainland for testing & treatment. The deaths of...
Worrying times for kākāpō
A spate of kākāpō chicks deaths from a fungal pneumonia caused by aspergillosis has DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Team very worried. Two further adult deaths...
Glad and sad kākāpō tidings
The death of Hoki from a fungal infection brings the number of adult kākāpō to 146, while there are 77 chicks. Episode 17 of the Kākāpō Files includes...
Longest kākāpō breeding season
With 75 living chicks and the final three eggs due to hatch this week, the 2019 kākāpō breeding season is set to be the longest on record.
The n...
Kākāpō chicks still hatching
Most of the 72 kākāpō chicks are thriving in wild nests, the males are winding down their booming, and there are 7 fertile eggs still to hatch.
...
Kotahitanga and kākāpō
Kākāpō chick numbers continue to climb. The latest tally is 64 chicks, including one named Kotahitanga, meaning unity and solidarity.
The number...
Fat happy kākāpō chicks
Thirty four kākāpō chicks are putting on plenty of weight in wild nests as the rimu fruit ripens, and 23 chicks are also being hand-reared, in episode...
Kākāpō helpers
Volunteers from around the world are helping the kākāpō team, with tasks ranging from feeding birds and people, looking after the power system on When...
Kākāpō rangers
There is a hard-working team of island rangers helping save kākāpō, working day and night, and the chick tally has reached 44, in episode 11 of the Kā...
Flying kākāpō sperm
In a world-first for kākāpō conservation, a drone (nicknamed the 'spermcopter') has flown kākāpō sperm across Whenua Hou / Codfish Island - the Kākāpō...
Kākāpō chick growth looking promising
There is good news from down south, where the endangered kākāpō is having its best breeding season ever. No one is game enough to predict exactly how...
On the island
More than 160 kākāpō eggs have been laid and the first 21 chicks have hatched, but there is also news of the first chick death, in episode 9 of the Kā...
Round two begins
The chicks that have hatched are off to Dunedin, the females have started mating again, and there is breeding action on Hauturu, all in episode 8 of t...
The chicks are hatching
The first two chicks of the 2019 kākāpō breeding season have hatched and the exciting news keeps coming in, in episode 7 of the Kākāpō Files.
Th...
Full house
Forty eight out of fifty kākāpō females on the southern islands have mated, nesting is well underway and the first AI has been carried out, all in epi...