Kākāpō have begun their breeding season after a four-year pause, the Department of Conservation and Ngāi Tahu says.
Remote monitoring technology used to track the critically threatened taonga detected mating activity began on December 29.
"It’s always exciting when the breeding season officially begins, but this year it feels especially long-awaited after such a big gap since the last season in 2022," DOC operations manager for kākāpō recovery Deidre Vercoe said.
Vercoe said DOC expected more mating over the next month, and preparations are now underway for "what might be the biggest breeding season since the programme began 30 years ago".
The flightless, nocturnal parrots breed just once every two to four years, when rimu trees fruit heavily.
The total kākāpō population currently sits at 236 ahead of the breeding season, including 83 breeding-age females. With most kākāpō mothers typically raising one chick per season, 2026 could bring the most chicks since records began.
'Thriving, not just surviving'
However, Vercoe said success could no longer be measured by numbers alone.
"We want to create healthy, self-sustaining populations of kākāpō that are thriving, not just surviving," she said. "This means, with each successful breeding season, we’re aiming to reduce the level of intensive, hands-on management to return to a more natural state.
"We’re working towards the goal of returning them to their former range around New Zealand so that one day, hearing a kākāpō boom might be a normal part of naturing."
This season, a range of lower-intervention strategies would be applied to varying degrees across the three remote southern breeding islands, DOC said. It included prioritising checks for genetically valuable eggs and chicks; leaving more eggs to hatch in nests rather than incubators; reducing nest interference for mothers raising multiple chicks; and reducing supplementary feeding.
'Returning to their natural ways'
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu representative on the Kākāpō Recovery Group, Tāne Davis, said each breeding season was a "significant step toward restoring the mauri of kākāpō and our aim for them to one day thrive on their own throughout the Ngāi Tahu takiwā o Te Waipounamu".
"As part of the more hands-off approach to enhance the mauri of the species, a Ngāi Tahu aspiration is also for a per centage of the chicks hatched this year to remain nameless, acknowledging the beginning of returning the manu to their own natural ways," Davis said.
"The predicted scale of this season also reminds us of the need for more safe homes, like a predator-free Rakiura, for this taonga species."
Vercoe expressed gratitude for the support of partners and volunteers for their parts in saving the kākāpō population.
"It takes a collective effort to turn the tide and bring kākāpō back from the brink. We’re grateful for all the support shown over the years from people keen to do their bit for nature," she said.
The first chicks were expected to start hatching from mid-February.
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