Overall, 2019 has been a great year for the kākāpō. After predicting a bumper breeding year of up to 50 chicks, the Kākāpō Recovery Programme was happily astonished to bring a record 86 new kākāpō into the world. Baby birds are notoriously bad at living, but despite their delicate nature, 76 survived the first few weeks of life.
Then tragedy struck. On May 3rd, adult male Gumboots was found dead with his leg caught in a branch. Post-mortem revealed he was suffering from aspergillosis, a respiratory disease caused by a fungus. In the following week, three chicks died from the same disease. Blood tests and CT scans found more birds suffering from aspergillosis. As of 20th June, a further three birds have died (a total of five chicks and two adults).
In response, kākāpō are being flown to Auckland Zoo for testing and treatment. Aspergillosis is hard to test for, as it mainly presents as respiratory lesions which look similar to those caused by other infections. While aspergillosis has been confirmed in a few birds, others have similar symptoms which may be caused by something different, or multiple illness.
Aspergillosis is caused by a fungus that is ubiquitous (everywhere) in the environment. Aspergillus fungi are the black mould that grows in the bathroom. They contribute to the smell of compost and rotting. They are particularly abundant in leaf mould, soil, and spoiled hay and other organic matter. In the kākāpō's natural forest habitat, there are Aspergillus spores everywhere. They don't normally cause illness, so why are the kākāpō dying?
Aspergillus spores can cause deadly illness if they are at particularly high levels in the environment, or if an animal is stressed or has an underlying condition. Sometimes, aspergillosis can be a secondary infection. Knowing this, the vets at Auckland Zoo are treating sick kākāpō using antibiotics and anti-inflammatories as well as antifungal medication.
Reducing stress in a sick wild animal that has to stay in captivity for treatment is always a challenge, but the staff are doing their best by providing enrichment, keeping the birds quiet where possible, and air conditioning the sick rooms so the parrots don't overheat. The specialist facilities and medication required aren't cheap, and staff are working around the clock to save the kākāpō. They are pushed for space, and have to quickly re-purpose rooms to squeeze birds in.
As resources are stretched to the max, the Kakapo Recovery Team have launched an appeal for donations to cover some of the costs. While national news giant Stuff reckons that nobody seems to care about the kākāpō dying, over $100,000 in donations from the public says that people do care.
But why?
If kākāpō are on the brink of extinction, and a naturally occurring fungus wants to finish them off, why not put these crowd-funded resources into something that's doing better rather than propping up has-beens?
You could say the same for the panda, the Canterbury knobbled weevil, the vaquita (okay those are pretty much finished), and countless other endangered species. Why save pandas when they're hard to breed in captivity, or weevils when their range is small, or vaquitas when illegal fishing is more lucrative than conservation?
We have to save them, because every lost species is another irreparable* chink in the ecology of an area. If you have enough chinks, the ecosystem collapses. As a flightless forest fruit-eater, the kākāpō is important to its ecosystem as a seed disperser. While there are other seed dispersers, they cannot completely cover for the kākāpō, and expecting them to do so is likely to be as successful as when businesses make several staff members redundant and expect the other staff to take on their roles.
Even if you are happy to live on a hot concrete planet where humans are the only species, you rely on the ecology around you whether you like it or not. You need species to support an environment where your food can grow, to teach your immune system how to immune system, to grow bugs in your gut that digest your food for you, and even to produce your climate and air.
So while it may be a pain trying to revive struggling species, and it may be a bore that pretty much every species that you hear about is dying out, this stuff is worth paying attention to. Once a species is gone, it's gone, and there's no going back.
On the positive side, kākāpō are far from being gone. While the aspergillosis incidences have been devastating, kākāpō have been seeing a steady population rise since the project began in 1989. There are more kākāpō in New Zealand now than there have been for over 25 years. Species are capable of recovering from small numbers, if rigorous conservation protocols are followed, and inbreeding is avoided as much as possible.
In the last couple of weeks, kākāpō have begun to return to their sanctuary on Whenua Hou, and some individuals have been cleared of illness. Hopefully we have seen the worst of the sickness, and kākāpō numbers can continue to rise.
*Yep, irreparable - de-extinction is a long way off being viable, and in any case we will probably never know enough about ecology to reconstruct a dead ecosystem.
 |
| A kākāpō chick. Photo by Dianne Mason |
Then tragedy struck. On May 3rd, adult male Gumboots was found dead with his leg caught in a branch. Post-mortem revealed he was suffering from aspergillosis, a respiratory disease caused by a fungus. In the following week, three chicks died from the same disease. Blood tests and CT scans found more birds suffering from aspergillosis. As of 20th June, a further three birds have died (a total of five chicks and two adults).
In response, kākāpō are being flown to Auckland Zoo for testing and treatment. Aspergillosis is hard to test for, as it mainly presents as respiratory lesions which look similar to those caused by other infections. While aspergillosis has been confirmed in a few birds, others have similar symptoms which may be caused by something different, or multiple illness.
Aspergillosis is caused by a fungus that is ubiquitous (everywhere) in the environment. Aspergillus fungi are the black mould that grows in the bathroom. They contribute to the smell of compost and rotting. They are particularly abundant in leaf mould, soil, and spoiled hay and other organic matter. In the kākāpō's natural forest habitat, there are Aspergillus spores everywhere. They don't normally cause illness, so why are the kākāpō dying?
 |
| The moist forest on Whenua Hou is home to endangered species such as kākāpō and hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes). Aspergillus spores are abundant in moist forest environments, but do not usually cause illness. |
Aspergillus spores can cause deadly illness if they are at particularly high levels in the environment, or if an animal is stressed or has an underlying condition. Sometimes, aspergillosis can be a secondary infection. Knowing this, the vets at Auckland Zoo are treating sick kākāpō using antibiotics and anti-inflammatories as well as antifungal medication.
Reducing stress in a sick wild animal that has to stay in captivity for treatment is always a challenge, but the staff are doing their best by providing enrichment, keeping the birds quiet where possible, and air conditioning the sick rooms so the parrots don't overheat. The specialist facilities and medication required aren't cheap, and staff are working around the clock to save the kākāpō. They are pushed for space, and have to quickly re-purpose rooms to squeeze birds in.
As resources are stretched to the max, the Kakapo Recovery Team have launched an appeal for donations to cover some of the costs. While national news giant Stuff reckons that nobody seems to care about the kākāpō dying, over $100,000 in donations from the public says that people do care.
But why?
If kākāpō are on the brink of extinction, and a naturally occurring fungus wants to finish them off, why not put these crowd-funded resources into something that's doing better rather than propping up has-beens?
You could say the same for the panda, the Canterbury knobbled weevil, the vaquita (okay those are pretty much finished), and countless other endangered species. Why save pandas when they're hard to breed in captivity, or weevils when their range is small, or vaquitas when illegal fishing is more lucrative than conservation?
 |
| About 20% of the current vaquita population. The vaquita's imminent extinction will put greater strain on an already fragile ocean ecosystem. At least we have some nice photos of them, though. |
We have to save them, because every lost species is another irreparable* chink in the ecology of an area. If you have enough chinks, the ecosystem collapses. As a flightless forest fruit-eater, the kākāpō is important to its ecosystem as a seed disperser. While there are other seed dispersers, they cannot completely cover for the kākāpō, and expecting them to do so is likely to be as successful as when businesses make several staff members redundant and expect the other staff to take on their roles.
Even if you are happy to live on a hot concrete planet where humans are the only species, you rely on the ecology around you whether you like it or not. You need species to support an environment where your food can grow, to teach your immune system how to immune system, to grow bugs in your gut that digest your food for you, and even to produce your climate and air.
So while it may be a pain trying to revive struggling species, and it may be a bore that pretty much every species that you hear about is dying out, this stuff is worth paying attention to. Once a species is gone, it's gone, and there's no going back.
On the positive side, kākāpō are far from being gone. While the aspergillosis incidences have been devastating, kākāpō have been seeing a steady population rise since the project began in 1989. There are more kākāpō in New Zealand now than there have been for over 25 years. Species are capable of recovering from small numbers, if rigorous conservation protocols are followed, and inbreeding is avoided as much as possible.
In the last couple of weeks, kākāpō have begun to return to their sanctuary on Whenua Hou, and some individuals have been cleared of illness. Hopefully we have seen the worst of the sickness, and kākāpō numbers can continue to rise.
*Yep, irreparable - de-extinction is a long way off being viable, and in any case we will probably never know enough about ecology to reconstruct a dead ecosystem.
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