There are only 144 kakapos left in the world.
A rare bird chick has received life-saving surgery at a veterinary hospital in a risky first-of-its-kind procedure.
The chick in question hatched in the wild on tiny Codfish Island —a predator-free sanctuary off the south coast of New Zealand’s South Island where many of the remaining kakapos are kept. It was in the care of the Department of Conservation’s Kakapo Recovery Team when rangers noticed an unusual lump on its skull.
“In humans, this spot fuses after birth, but this is highly unusual in birds as the skull has finished fusing prior to hatch,” he said. “The concern was that if this tissue was damaged this would open the brain to trauma and infection. With only 144 kakapos left in the world, this condition could be life-threatening for the critically endangered bird, so action needed to be taken, but nothing like it had been attempted before in avian medicine.
Espy 1B was flown for free by national airline to Wildbase and received the surgery on April 29, with the team, led by Gartrell, reporting that the procedure was a success. The chick has now made a remarkable recovery and is expected to grow into a healthy adult. These settlers first introduced dogs and rats to New Zealand, which also preyed on the bird, according to the Department of Conservation.
In the 1890s, conservationist Richard Henry led the first effort to try and save the kakapo. However, with the turn of the 20th century, only a few birds remained in isolated parts of the country.
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