From Laupach to New Zealand: Saving the Endangered Kakapo
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07. June 2021 – 15:06 hour
Kakapo Expedition: With a “Spermacopter” to New Zealand
There are less than 200 specimens of the kakapo, an endangered species of bird from New Zealand. In order to preserve the population of rare parrots, veterinarian Michael Lears of Laupach has joined a special project. Together with his team, the professor at the University of Giessen has developed a special device to encourage more offspring among kakapos. How exactly this works and what “sperm macopter” has to do with it, we show in the video.
Vet Michael Lears talks about the magic of Kakapo
“The bird is addictive,” says Michael Lears in an interview. “You can’t describe why it is, the bird touches you especially deeply. Everyone who has seen it for the first time says it,” he adds, “I still get goosebumps.” Enthusiasm follows action: Lierz and his team helped for several weeks on the island of Codfish in New Zealand to collect seeds from male kakapos in order to fertilize the females. Successfully: The fertilized females obtained 80 percent of the fertilized eggs. Before that it was nearly 50 per cent.
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