Over 100 Kakapo Chicks Hatch in New Zealand in Best Breeding Season on Record

New Zealand’s most beloved bird has had its best breeding season on record, with more than 100 kakapo chicks hatching in 2026 — a milestone that could transform the long-term prospects for a species that came perilously close to extinction.

The previous record stood at 85 chicks, set in 2019. This season has already surpassed that, with 78 females nesting across three predator-free island sanctuaries. Early hatches began on Valentine’s Day on Pukenui Anchor Island in Fiordland, with activity also concentrated at Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) and a second Fiordland location.

The total wild kakapo population currently sits at just 235 individuals. A successful season like this one — where the chick count could represent close to half that number — is the kind of generational leap the recovery programme has been working towards for decades.

Kakapo are the world’s heaviest parrot, flightless, and nocturnal. They breed only when food is abundant, and this season’s extraordinary outcome was triggered by a bumper rīmu berry crop across the southern islands. Rīmu mast years occur irregularly, meaning kakapo breeding seasons cannot be predicted or manufactured — when the conditions align, the recovery team mobilises quickly and works around the clock to give every chick the best possible start.

That work has included some extraordinary moments. Auckland Zoo vet Adam Naylor found himself performing CPR on a newly hatched chick that had stopped breathing.

“My vet training kicked in, and I started doing some very tiny CPR,” he said. “I just blew gently into its mouth, to try and get some air into it and get it breathing again.”

The chick survived. “By the next day, I’m happy to report, it had bounced back remarkably well,” Naylor said.

The same vet was later called on to stitch a wound on a 12-day-old chick — a delicate procedure that illustrated the level of individual care each bird receives. “It was actually a pretty deep and fresh laceration at the base of the neck, right across the jugular vein,” he said.

Not every chick has made it through. Seven have died during the season, and four others received treatment at Dunedin Wildlife Hospital. Kakapo Recovery Programme ranger Sarah Manktelow acknowledged the losses with the pragmatism that comes from years of working on the front line of conservation.

“We have to expect to lose some chicks,” she said.

Chicks will not be officially counted as part of the adult population until they reach 150 days of age — meaning the earliest hatches will pass that threshold around mid-July. The final tally will be watched closely by conservation communities around the world.

Kakapo have captivated global audiences for years. The species became internationally famous through wildlife documentaries and has a devoted following among people who have never set foot in New Zealand. That attention has helped sustain public and donor support for one of the most resource-intensive species recovery efforts anywhere in the world.

The kakapo story is also one of the more honest examples of what conservation recovery actually looks like. The population crashed to just 51 individuals in 1995, following centuries of habitat loss, hunting, and predation by introduced mammals. What followed was not a quick fix but a sustained, painstaking effort — relocating birds to predator-free sanctuaries, intensive health monitoring, supplementary feeding, and careful management of genetic diversity across a critically small population.

Each breeding season is treated as a precious opportunity that may not come around again for years. The work involves Department of Conservation staff, veterinary teams, zoological institutions, iwi with cultural connections to kakapo, and an army of volunteers and remote trackers. Whenua Hou, which sits off the southern tip of Te Waipounamu, holds particular cultural significance for Ngāi Tahu, for whom kakapo are a taonga species.

The 100-chick milestone is more than a number. It represents a meaningful reduction in extinction risk for a bird that, within living memory, was thought by some scientists to be beyond saving. Each chick that makes it to adulthood expands the gene pool, strengthens the population’s resilience, and buys time for the longer recovery arc.

It also represents what becomes possible when the right conditions come together — a good food year, well-prepared conservation teams, predator-free habitat, and years of accumulated knowledge about how to keep these birds alive.

The full RNZ report on the record-breaking season can be read here.

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