Kakapo Ambassador

Many rehabilitators deal with species that are not endangered, or at least still have a number of living members.  But regardless of whether we rehab red squirrels or hyacinth macaws, we feel the specter of population loss.  While not truly a rehab case, the below article is an interesting account of one member of one species with only 129 members.  It highlights the important role we rehabilitators play in the protection and healing of threatened and endangered species. – Kai

By Barbara Heidenreich

Austin, Nov 30, 2011 – Sirocco is one of 129 Kakapo left in the world. This large, flightless, nocturnal species of parrot is famous for unusual behavior. During breeding season the males plant themselves in small depressions in the ground called “bowls”. They puff up with air and emit a resonant boom for up to eight hours a night. The boom attracts a female who is eagerly pounced upon by the hormonally charged male Kakapo. Sirocco, having been hand raised due to an illness, prefers to mate with human heads instead of female Kakapo.

Sirocco became famous when he directed his affections to the cranium of zoologist Mark Carwardine in the BBC series Last Chance to See. The viral video clip has been viewed more than 3.5 million times on YouTube http://youtu.be/9T1vfsHYiKY . Professional animal trainer Barbara Heidenreich was one of those viewers and reached out to the Kakapo Recovery Program to see if she could help.

Barbara commented on the situation. “I was amused by the clip like everyone else. However I came to learn that his sexual behavior had become a bit of a problem. Sirocco was at times quite relentless in his attempts to climb to people’s heads. There was concern he might get hurt by someone who was not charmed by his advances.”

Barbara traveled 7400 miles from the United States to New Zealand to work with Sirocco’s caregivers to develop a training plan based in positive reinforcement.  The main goal was to teach Sirocco to redirect his sexual behavior towards something else. “We experimented with a stuffed owl. But will likely end up using one of his known favorite objects, a Crocs™ shoe.” says Barbara.

Sirocco has responded extremely well to training. He has already learned to present a number of behaviors that make it easier to care for him, including touching his beak to the end of a plastic chopstick. The chopstick allows caregivers to direct him where to go without handling. He is learning other behaviors as well. Many are based on Kakapo natural behavior. As ambassador for the Kakapo Recovery Program, Sirocco makes appearances to help educate people about his kind. By sharing his natural talents the team hopes to raise funding and awareness for this extremely endangered New Zealand parrot. Learn more at www.KakapoRecovery.org.nz.

 

About Good Bird Inc:

Good Bird Inc provides behavior and training products for the companion parrot community. These products include Good Bird Magazine, books, videos and parrot training workshops. Discover kind and gentle ways to train parrots to be well behaved, interactive and fun. Visit www.GoodBirdInc.com for more information.