Endangered kakapo on an island off Stewart Island are sitting on 52 eggs and the numbers are still climbing, the Department of Conservation (DoC) said today.
The egg-laying rush may pull the kakapo back from the edge of extinction.
There are only 62 kakapo left on the planet -- nearly all on Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) off Stewart Island -- and they are one of the rarest species in the world.
The kakapo have not bred or produced any eggs or chicks for three years....until this breeding season.
DOC's kakapo team leader Paul Jansen said he expected about a 60 per cent hatching rate of the kakapo eggs.
The age of the kakapo population is unknown but one male, Richard Henry, is 45 and one female, Heather, is 24. Many of the other birds may be a lot older.
- NZPA
Fifty-two kakapo eggs ... and numbers still climbing
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