Kākāpō Goings On

<p>The oldest chick of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season, Tiwhiri-A1 has reached 150 days old and can be officially counted. This milestone increases the kākāpō population by one bird to 236, the first time it has risen in 4 years. The first chicks to reach independence are roosting away from their mums and feeding themselves, and two chicks have dropped their transmitters and are now “off-grid”. With the threat of deadly H5N1 bird flu looming, vet Lydia Uddstrom explains that about a quarter of the most genetically valuable kākāpō will be vaccinated against bird flu, especially on Whenua Hou, which has a large population of seabirds.</p><p><em>Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.</em></p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><p>00:00 – Introduction<br/>02:30 – Island news with ranger Louise Porter<br/>13:45 – Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu<br/>17:28 - Vet Lydia Uddstrom on bird flu vaccinations<br/>26:10 - How do kākāpō contract aspergillosis<br/>27:37 - Are any kākāpō on display<br/>28:20 - Frozen sperm<br/>29:17 - How kākāpō use space<br/>37:06 - Are kākāpō cuddly<br/>38:00 - Closing credits&#8230;</p><p><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kakapo-files?share=86c95b8b-bcbe-4f3c-ac08-c9ba59b0fab8">Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details</a></p>