How Smart Transmitters & Drones Are Saving New Zealand’s Kakapo Bird From Going Extinct

When nature failed, technology came to the rescue of the Kakapo (pronounced caw-caw-poe), a flightless, owl-like parrot who was threatened with extinction at the hand of the predatory land mammals like rats, stoats (short-tailed weasel) and possums whose collective efforts to keep themselves fed dangerously lowered the Kakapo population. It got so worse that about 40 years ago, only 18 birds could be found, all of whom were males. Now, with the discovery of a new population in a location not explored before brought hope as this group consisted of a female Kakapo. Since then, conservation efforts have been able to resurrect Kakapo’s dwindling numbers - from mere 18 to over 200. This year saw a record low in the mortality rate of Kakapo chicks. Out of the 86 born this year, only 16 were