Kim has a good point, and I should have realised from the fact that one of
the females last bred in 1981 that it is very hard to distinguish breeders
from non-breeders. But I hope that maybe in 10 years time, the population
might have increased to the point where my suggestion might be able to be
put into practice.
John
>Dear John
>
>One problem with this suggestion is that DoC do not know which are
>the non-breeders. In the last successful breeding round (if I
>remember right) two of the birds that bred are ones that had tried
>and failed before, and one who had never shown any interest before.
>It seems that some birds can go very long periods without making a
>breeding attempt, let alone success, and then successfully breed.
>Given the tiny numbers of living kakapo, you cannot take the risk.
>That is especially true since the breeding system includes some of
>the elements of a lekking system; the presence of other animals, even
>if they are not breeding, is quite likely part of the social stimulus
>that leads others (especially males) to "boom" - to undergo the
>physiological changes preparatory to breeding.
>
>So your only chance is to spend time not money: DoC from time to time
>call for volunteer nest guards to go to Codfish and spend a couple of
>weeks guarding nests. But since (I gather) rats have been
>exterminated on Codfish maybe this is no longer an option. if so, I
>have bloody well blown it too, as I have always planned to tick my
>kakapo that way.
>
>Greetings and bad luck
>Kim
>
>Until April 2002 visting at
>
>Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences
>101-40
>California Institute of Technology
>Pasadena, California 91125
>USA
>
>phone: 626-3953608
>Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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>
>
>
John Penhallurick
Associate Professor John M. Penhallurick<>
Canberra, Australia
Phone BH( 61 2) 6201 2346 AH (61 2) 62585428
FAX (61 2) 6258 0426 Mobile 0408 585 428
Snail Mail Division of Communication and Education,
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