In New Zealand, the kakapo population has risen to its highest level in three-quarters of a century, reaching 325 birds. For a species that long hovered on the edge of extinction, this is an important turning point: the population has not only survived, but grown noticeably.
The kakapo is a flightless parrot that has become a symbol of the vulnerability of New Zealand's wildlife. The birds now live on four islands off the country's coast and in the Maungatautari sanctuary on the North Island. In recent decades, the population has gradually increased, although recovery remains slow: kakapo breed only once every two to four years.
There is still no room for complacency — 325 birds is still an extremely small number. But after decades of decline, that figure is especially encouraging.
