Critical Condition
In New Zealand hundreds of thousands of Kakapo used to thrive in the dense jungle. Today only 131 are left as of June 2011. A couple of thousand of years ago, Polynesian people went to New Zealand and hunted the kakapo, and also began chopping down their habitat. Things became a lot worse when the Europeans arrived around 150 years ago. Large areas were cleared for farmland, and also introduced multiple species that posed a threat to the Kakapo, such as ferrets, cats, rats and dogs. The Kakapo would have avoided these animals if it knew they were dangerous, but it didn’t as it had never encountered any predators before. There was no reason for it to fly, so the Kakapo lost the ability, as there was nothing for it to fly away from. Because of this, they were helpless when the predators arrived. The only way the Kakapo attempts to deal with predators is to remain completely still, hoping to camouflage in with the background. This would have worked against eagles, but the introduced predators relied on a sense of smell, and unfortunately the Kakapo gave off a sweet, musky scent, so they were easy prey. Not only that, but Kakapo skins were highly prized by the Maori people, and they even used Kakapo feathers for coats, pillows and mattresses. In 1845 a European found a Kakapo and discovered they tasted quite good, and during the gold rush (1860-1870) miners lived on a diet of Kakapo. By 1934, specimens of Kakapo were in almost every museum around the world. So many Kakapo skins were for sale they usually only sold at around 37 pence each, which is only 0.58 AUD! By 1930, Kakapo had become extinct on the north island of New Zealand.