The biggest kākāpō season on record has come to an end, with a bumper number of chicks reaching the milestone of 150 days old. The 90 chicks have boosted the kākāpō population from 235 birds to 325, an increase of more than a third. The 2026 season saw 48 kākāpō mums produce living chicks, fathered by 32 dads. The ‘top dad’ was 10-year Tūterangi, breeding for the first time, who fathered 10 chicks with six females. Ten chicks were fathered with the help of artificial insemination. DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme reports that not all of this year’s chicks will be named, and that they expect the next breeding season to be in two years’ time.
Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.
In this episode:
00:00 – Introduction
01:42 – Deidre Vercoe announces 90 chicks and population of 325 kākāpō
04:45 – Naming kākāpō
06:00 – Daryl Eason on the identity of the dads
10:27 – 10 chicks fathered through artificial insemination
15:59 – Andrew Digby on stepping back from intensive management
