Each kakapo nest is monitored by cameras. We set up a tent nearby, into which a supervisor withdraws when it’s still light out. The computer monitor then monitors when the mother leaves the nest and when the coast is clear so that investigations can begin at the nest. During the breeding season, many rangers work at the same time to make sure every single chick is doing well. Most of the time we have an hour or more before the mothers return. They all carry transmitters – and when the beeps get louder, we know they’re approaching and can retreat.
What if a female kakapo catches you at the nest?
Now that’s not the worst thing that can happen. I don’t think that’s why a brood was ever abandoned. However, this can be uncomfortable for us. The kakapos have sharp claws and pointed strong beaks. I still have a scar on my arm from a minor incident. But sometimes the females stay on the nest and we spend the whole night in the tent. These are unforgettable moments: spending the night alone in untouched nature near such a rare bird and listening to the very peculiar calls of male kakapo in the forest, vaguely reminiscent of the pounding of a bittern.
Her own focus is conservation genomics. What contribution can you make to the survival of the kakapo?
On the one hand, it is a matter of organizing the monitoring, i.e. the observation and surveillance of the animals, in such a way that we do not have to intervene as much in the natural processes and life of the parrots. With the so-called eDNA (environmental DNA), tiny DNA particles in the environment, we can prove the presence of different animal species, but we can also find out which individual prefers to be where, which means we can carry out habitat analyses. This will help one day to stop capturing every animal and attaching a radio transmitter and antenna to it. But it is also about better understanding what the genetic diversity is in a population and what it must be like to ensure that no inbreeding ultimately occurs.
Where can you find this eDNA, do you need feathers or leftover faeces, for example?
DNA is found not only in feathers or feces, but also in the soil an animal has walked on, in the water it has drunk from — and even in the air. We can examine all of these media and elicit information from them that is important for understanding the genetic structure of the small population and for reacting to it specifically in the management measures: how much genetic diversity is necessary and how it has to be obtained in concrete terms for a healthy one to develop population received? This is a crucial question, for example, in breeding programs to support stocks.
The introduction of predators – in addition to cats and rats also martens, stoats and other species that are not actually native – has almost led to the extinction of the kakapo. Apart from this danger, are the ecological prerequisites for a comeback of the night parrot also given beyond today’s refuges, for example on the large South Island of New Zealand?
The islands where the birds now live are completely natural. They are the closest thing to the original kakapo habitat. There aren’t too many places left in the South Island for kakapos to live today. In New Zealand, as almost everywhere else, too much land is already being used for agriculture – especially sheep and cattle farming – for the kakapo to be able to return to its original range across the board. There are of course the national parks, but the risk that they would fall victim to cats or martens there would be far too great.
© Lara Urban (detail)
Whenua Hou | Today, kakapos only survive on islands like Whenua Hou, where previously all introduced mammals were removed. However, the idyll is somewhat deceptive – at least for people: the work on the densely overgrown islands off the coast of New Zealand is quite exhausting.
Do the islands, where the last of their kind now live, offer enough space for an even increasing number of kakapos?
It’s really a bit of a paradox. Conservation success is helping save the species from extinction. But the more successful we are with it, the quicker we actually reach the limits of our capacity. The goal of the Kakapo recovery team is to achieve a self-sustaining population where management can be scaled back. We want to come to a state in which, to put it bluntly, every bird does not have to be weighed every night. But the problem is that there is no living space for that either. On the islands that are suitable because of their ecological condition and freedom from predators, the capacity is practically exhausted. With our 197 birds now, these islands are almost full. For the future, this means that we urgently need additional habitats.
Would it then be conceivable to tackle the problem of predatory mammals and thus allow the resettlement of at least the fairly pristine national parks on the South Island?
This is a hot topic in New Zealand. There is a science-backed government initiative to eliminate these non-native predators, which include stray and feral cats, by 2050. On the other hand, there are many animal rights activists who do not want to see animals killed from a species protection point of view. And the animal love of many New Zealanders is extreme, especially for their pets. For example, many call themselves “Mom” or “Dad” to their cats. This is where scientific arguments reach their limits. On the other hand, more and more people are realizing that it is time for a decision. New Zealand is at a crossroads of deciding how to deal with the predatory mammals responsible for the extinction of many species of animals and especially those special bird species.
what must happen
It is now a matter of preserving the still suitable habitats in such a way that the many endemic species can survive. If they get lost here, they’re gone for the whole earth. This responsibility is recognized. Because flora and fauna are so exceptional, awareness is also greater than elsewhere. However, one thing is clear: if New Zealand does not become predator-free, the kakapo or other species will never return to anything close to normal numbers. A lot is currently being decided politically as to how things will continue.
Will the kakapo survive?
I firmly believe in it. There are so many people in New Zealand who sacrifice all their work, even their entire lives, with all their energy and conviction to the kakapo. But to truly have a feral population again that is self-sustaining and doesn’t need to be monitored as heavily as it is now, requires just as strong political will.
You will be working in Germany again from June. What do you do?
The areas of application for molecular biological analyzes – also in connection with artificial intelligence – are constantly growing, and I want to continue researching in this area. I am currently putting together my own group of scientists, in which we at the Helmholtz Zentrum München want to research the possibilities of our approach with a view to planetary health. For example, it is about whether we can monitor the spread of dangerous pathogens that jump from animals to humans and have the potential for a new pandemic. Such zoonotic diseases often spread indirectly, not only through direct skin-to-skin contact between animals and humans, but also through the air or water. This gives us the opportunity to examine these media.