10 May 2005

Carter announces kakapo chick naming competition

Conservation Minister Chris Carter today announced a competition to name the four surviving kakapo chicks hatched this breeding season on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.

“The National Kakapo Recovery team have four new chicks that desperately need names and we are asking school pupils for their help,” Mr Carter said. “There are only 87 kakapo in the world so it’s important they have great names!”

The Kakapo Hatch a Name Competition is open to all New Zealand primary, intermediate and secondary school children. Entry forms and information is available online at www.kakapo.org.nz. Entries close 7 June 2005.

Four names will be selected and Comalco New Zealand, the sponsor of the Kakapo Recovery Programme, will award each of the winning students $1500 for their school. Forest and Bird will provide free memberships to the organisation’s Kiwi Conservation Club.

The winning student and a parent, guardian or care-giver will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of visiting the critically-endangered kakapo on either Whenua Hou (near Stewart Island) or Te Kakahu/Chalky Island (in Fiordland).

“After the sad loss of three juvenile female kakapo to bacterial infection last year, the hatching and survival of four kakapo chicks has been a very welcome boost for kakapo recovery,” Mr Carter said.

“This year five chicks were transferred to Nelson under the care of Department of Conservation hand-rearing specialist Daryl Eason. Four of the chicks are now thriving and they will be returned to the wild later this year. A fifth chick, the smallest of the group, has died after failing to put on weight."

The Kakapo Recovery Programme is a partnership between the Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird and Comalco New Zealand.

ENDS

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