To Save the Kākāpō

Filmed on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, this episode of long-running series Wild South examines the secretive lives of the kākāpō and their most successful breeding season in 16 years. Though these lovable parrots are notoriously slow-breeding, a 52-person recovery team pulls out all the stops — including spy cameras and robo-birds — to help the adult birds canoodle as much as possible, and keep the resulting chicks alive. When the episode starting filming in 1998, there were only about 50 kākāpō left. Since then, that number has more than quadrupled, but the kākāpō remains one of the world's most endangered birds.

The ancient kākāpō evolved in a land isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years. It was a safe and benign place. As a result, kākāpō are naive and trusting — qualities which make them tolerant of being handled, but vulnerable to predators. 

– Narrator Karen Elliot Best at the beginning of this episode

Key Cast & Crew

Alison Ballance

Director, Producer, Writer

Peter Hayden

Supervising Writer, Executive Producer

Neil Harraway

Executive Producer

Karen Elliot Best

Narrator

Michael Stedman

Executive Producer

Frank Lodge

Video Post-Production