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The oldest chick of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season, Tiwhiri-A1 has reached 150 days old and can be officially counted. This milestone increases the kākāpō population by one bird to 236, the first time it has risen in 4 years. The first chicks to reach independence are roosting away from their mums and feeding themselves, and two chicks have dropped their transmitters and are now “off-grid”. With the threat of deadly H5N1 bird flu looming, vet Lydia Uddstrom explains that about a quarter of the most genetically valuable kākāpō will be vaccinated against bird flu, especially on Whenua Hou, which has a large population of seabirds.

Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.

In this episode:

00:00 – Introduction
02:30 – Island news with ranger Louise Porter
13:45 – Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu
17:28 - Vet Lydia Uddstrom on bird flu vaccinations
26:10 - How do kākāpō contract aspergillosis
27:37 - Are any kākāpō on display
28:20 - Frozen sperm
29:17 - How kākāpō use space
37:06 - Are kākāpō cuddly
38:00 - Closing credits…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details