KAKAPO – THE ONLY FLIGHTLESS PARROT
The kakapo is the only species of flightless parrot that one can find in the world, it is also called owl parrot which belongs to the species of large flightless, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the family Strigopoidea, which can be found in New Zealand.
For the appearance part it has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet and relatively short wings and tail. The kakapo male weighs about 2-4 kg. There are only 131 kakapos left in the world.
The reason for them being endangered is because of the host predators like dogs, cats, weasels, possums and rats. The ground nesting birds are defenceless against these predators. Like several other birds unique to New Zealand, the kakapo has been extirpated throughout most of its range due to habitat destruction and predation. The recent fact given by the New Zealand scientists say that a new threat has come up which may cause severe disruption in these birds going to extinction. Few of the last kakapo populations on remote Codfish Island have been hit with a fungal respiratory disease called Aspergillosis. Sources told that 36 kakapos have been receiving treatment out of which 7 has died including adults which is a huge loss for the species because there are only 150 left.
