Source: Radio New Zealand
Rakiura a female kākāpō is being livestreamed from her nest. SCREENSHOT
A Department of Conservation (DoC) livestream of a nesting Kākāpo on a remote island off the coast of the South Island, has attracted international attention.
Through a hidden camera, viewers can watch Rakiura as she raises her chick, who looks more like a sentient ball of fluff than a bird, at this stage.
In the comments of the YouTube livestream, watchers announce they’re tuning in from places including Argentina, The United States and The Netherlands.
“She’s a star,” one commenter said, “I love to come here and watch Rakiura and her chick for a while every day it is so special,” another wrote.
More than 100 people are tuning in to the livestream at any given time.
The livestream is beamed across the world from a arge cavity beneath a rātā tree on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.
Twenty-four-year-old Rakiura even laid an egg on the livestream back in January and was now raising her chick for the world to see.
According to DoC, there were only 236 Kākāpo left in the world, and as they were only in Aotearoa, many people would never see one in real life.
A Kākāpo with her chick. (File photo) JAKE OSBORNE
This was the first breeding season for Kākāpo since 2022, it said.
Kākāpō only breed every two to four years and this year’s season could the best yet following a bumper mast, or mass fruiting of rimu berries.
During this breeding season, Rakiura had laid three eggs – but only two of these went on to hatch. One of the chicks was transferred to a foster mum while the second, Nora-A2 2026, is still in the nest with her mum.
DoC said Rakiura had nine living descendants across six breeding seasons and also had many “grandchicks”.
The Kākāpo cam helped scientists learn about nesting behaviour along with letting people around the world watch without disturbing the birds, it said, and helped build support for protecting the species.
On its website, DoC urged people to share the video with friends and family because “the more people who care, the better the future for kākāpō”.
This year’s live stream set up involved four solar panels, 26kg of batteries, 300m of cable, satellite internet, routers, voltage converters and more.
The Kākāpo livestream could be viewed here.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
