Record breeding season lifts kākāpō population to 325
New Zealand added 90 independent kākāpō chicks to the official population on September 1, taking the critically endangered parrot’s total above 300 for the first time in roughly 75 years.
In short
- New Zealand added 90 independent kākāpō chicks to the official population on September 1, taking the critically endangered parrot’s total above 300 for the first time in roughly 75 years.
New Zealand’s critically endangered kākāpō population reached 325 on September 1, 2026, after 90 chicks from a record breeding season were formally counted as independent birds.
The total is the highest since the country’s recovery programme began and marks the first time in about 75 years that the population is believed to have exceeded 300, according to Deidre Vercoe, the Department of Conservation’s kākāpō recovery operations manager.
Kākāpō are nocturnal, flightless parrots native to New Zealand. Their numbers collapsed after introduced predators, including cats and stoats, spread across the country. A formal recovery programme began in 1995 with 51 birds and now manages three breeding populations on predator-free islands off the South Island.
The birds breed only every two to four years, when native rimu trees produce abundant fruit. A mass fruiting after a four-year gap triggered the 2026 breeding season. Chicks join the official population at about 150 days old, when they are considered independent.
Conservation modelling indicates the next breeding season could occur as early as 2028.
