Aggressive kakapo banished to Fiordland

An aggressive male kakapo has been banished after it assaulted a kakapo chick in one of the acclimatisation pens on isolated Codfish Island near Stewart Island.

The chick, hand-raised in Nelson, is recuperating at a clinic in Palmerston North after it was assaulted by the male kakapo with "an aggressive streak".

Kakapo recovery team leader Paul Jansen said Pounamu, a female chick, was injured three weeks ago when Dot, a two-year-old male, jumped into the pen she was sharing with another chick.

Mr Jansen said Pounamu was badly bruised and lost a few feathers around her head in the attack.

She was taken to the Massey University clinic to ensure she did not have any internal bleeding, and would be back in her southern home soon.

"It was nothing major, just a kicking in the pub carpark, rather than a drive-by shooting," he said.

Rangers were not sure how Dot, who was naturally raised, got into the pen.

Mr Jansen said Dot was "a bit of a nitwit" and had attacked other adult kakapo before.

As punishment, Dot had been removed from Codfish Island to an island in Fiordland, where he could "take his chances with adult males".

The remaining three chicks raised in Nelson, including the other female in the pen with Pounamu at the time of the attack, were doing fine, Mr Jansen said.

- nzpa