Being the heavyweight of the parrot world means the kakapo is flightless, and preferring its own nocturnal company makes it pretty antisocial too. One aspect the kakapo has in common with some of its airborne cousins is extreme longevity, with certain individuals known to live for 120 years. Befitting a bird that is in it for the long haul they are also notoriously picky breeders, only attempting to reproduce once every three to five years and coinciding with when their favourite food, the fruit of the rimu tree, is in plentiful supply.
With numbers dipping to fewer than 50 in 1990, the conservation klaxon was sounded and a recovery programme was quickly launched. Since then a small and dedicated team using artificial insemination, artificial incubation, and careful nest management of wild birds has slowly but surely increased their population to 123 adults, all contained within three small, predator-free islands.
Following a bumper rimu fruit crop, conservationists predicted this year to be a record-breaking breeding year for kakapo, but the numbers have exceeded all expectations with 36 chicks surviving the perilous first few months of life and delighting the team. To put this figure into context, only six chicks were raised during 2014, making the "Class of 2016" all the more significant.
A few more broods like this and the kakapo could be a major conservation success story. Anyone want to adopt one ?
http://kakaporecovery.org.nz/adopt-a-kakapo/
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160715-baby-boom-for-worlds-rarest-parrot
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