Life was on a knife edge for kakapo chick Espy-1B, a bird whose species lives on the brink of oblivion.
After hatching with a life-threatening lump on its head, Espy was taken first to Dunedin, then to an animal hospital in Palmerston North for pioneering bird-brain surgery.
The bird, one of just 144 remaining kakapo, hatched in the wild at Whenua Hou/Codfish Island west of Stewart Island and was in the care of the Department of Conservation kakapo recovery team.
![Kakapo chick Espy-1B being prepared for surgery. Photo / supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/CD5YBTG7QLABVAHDUQH432Y25U.jpg?auth=a13f1021d1cab46ad39d30f9a150f1cc0d535dcc08d29799d3b7815a0ddcdb7a&width=16&height=22&quality=70&smart=true)
After rangers noticed a lump on the head it was sent to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital for a CT scan.