New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) began vaccinating around ninety kākāpō, along with other rare native birds, after a seabird on Wellington’s Petone Beach tested positive for bird flu this week.
The vaccination programme was rolled out to protect endangered species such as takahē, kakī, tūturuatu and kākāriki karaka, following a successful trial completed last year.
DOC kākāpō vet Lydia Udstrom explained that most of the vaccinations were happening on Whenua Hou, also known as Codfish Island, where kākāpō often shared space with seabirds that could carry the virus. She said the birds received two injections a few weeks apart, which helped their bodies build up protection before the sickness arrived in New Zealand.
A small number of birds were deliberately left unvaccinated so that scientists could learn how the disease affected wild kākāpō naturally. DOC ranger Louise Porter said this had already been the biggest kākāpō breeding season on record, with ninety chicks hatched, compared to the ninety chicks it took sixteen years to reach when the recovery programme first began.
Experts said protecting these critical birds during the first wave of infection was vital, since bird flu was expected to remain in New Zealand permanently once it arrived.
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