The kakapo (night parrot) is one of New Zealand's unique `treasures'. Large, flightless and nocturnal, the kakapo is an eccentric parrot that can live for decades. It is not closely related to other parrots and, in fact, has a combination of biological features not shared by any other species.

It is the heaviest parrot in the world with males weighing up to 9 pounds. It is also the only representative of a unique sub-family, Strigops habroptilus, which means `owl-faced soft feathers' and has many features of an owl such as soft plumage and almost fur-like discs around the eyes. With mossy-green and yellow feathers, camouflage is the bird's main form of defense.

Kakapo live life in the slow lane, they do everything more slowly than most birds, and may live up to 60 years old! None of the known kakapo have yet died of old age, even though most were discovered 15- 25 years ago. In fact, it will not be known how long kakapo live until some of the birds born recently die of old age--that might be several decades away.

It is the only parrot to have a 'lek' mating system: males compete for 'calling posts', specially dug out bowls in the earth and call each night for up to four months for a female. The male's low- frequency mating boom travels up to 3-1/2 miles. The males compete against each other, and can release thousands of 'booms' a night. The setting for this ritual is usually a prominent ridge or hilltop with low-growing vegetation.

Each bird forms a network of tracks radiating from a bowl-like depression in the earth, from which it is based. They do not start breeding until they are about 6-8 years old, and even then, breeding does not take place every year. Rather, it seems to be dependent on the availability of key food supplies, such as the fruiting of rimu trees (red pine found in New Zealand), and will happen, on average, only every two to four years. The female kakapo usually lays two to three eggs, which hatch after about 30 days. The female rears the young alone and has to leave the nest at night in search of food, leaving the eggs or chicks exposed to the threat of predation. The chicks will typically fledge, or leave the nest, after about 10-12 weeks.

Although it cannot fly, it is good at climbing trees. The birds are herbivores and eat variety of foods such as roots, leaves and fruit. Kakapo once ranged from near sea level to high in the mountains. Possibly as defense against its ancient predator, the giant eagle, the kakapo became nocturnal and learned to freeze at times of danger.

European colonization and the introduction of predators such as weasels, cats, rats, and dogs, the species plummeted towards extinction. By 1995, there were only 50 known kakapo surviving on a handful of small island sanctuaries. Today, with a world population of 86 and a comprehensive Kakapo Recovery Program underway, the kakapo is on its first tentative steps to recovery. The Department of Conservation in New Zealand has a National Kakapo Team and has formulated a new plan whose aim is to establish at least one self sustaining unmanaged population of kakapo in a protected habitat and to establish two or more other populations which may require ongoing management. The current plan runs from 1996-2005, and outlines three key goals for the species.

However, there is not presently a large predator-free island capable of holding more than 100 kakapo, where the birds might be able to look after themselves. The lack of such a sanctuary could become an obstacle if kakapo breeding continues successfully.