Threats to kākāpō

Early Polynesian settlers hunted the bird for its plumage and meat. At the beginning of the 19th century, kākāpō were still widespread throughout New Zealand. From the 1840s, European settlers not only hunted the bird, they cleared and set fire to bush for farming, destroying its habitat.

Most devastating of all to its survival was the introduction of predators such as rats, cats and stoats. In ancient history, its only endemic predator was a giant eagle (now extinct) and it developed the habit of nesting, rearing and feeding its young on the ground. This nesting behaviour made its eggs and chicks easy prey to introduced mammalian predators, especially cats.