Even so a nice picture of this rare bird ! In Europe we only have the Kakas at Stuttgart, how is the species doing in NZ-zoos ( howmany birds are kept at howmany zoos and is there any breeding ? ).
the Stuttgart kaka are North Island birds (N. m. septentrionalis), which is the boring one. (It is well-known in New Zealand that everything in the South Island is better than everything in the North Island).
North Island kaka are pretty common, probably around 40-odd birds in around a dozen zoos. A lot are bred for release.
South Island kaka are less common, around 15 or 20 I guess, in (I think) five collections. They have only come into captive breeding fairly recently.
North Island kaka are only kept in North Island zoos, and South Island kaka only in South Island zoos.
*amiably throws stones at Chlidonias for saying any Kaka could possibly be boring*
It's a shame that Stuttgart have received point-blank refusals for even a single additional bird, when requesting a male be sent over to Europe - the older female looked on her last legs when I visited, but the two daughters seemed in fine fettle and are still young enough to breed.
yes, the people in charge of these things go in fits and starts. Sometimes it is considered an agreeable idea to send some animals to overseas zoos, and sometimes it is considered an absolute horror. There often seems to be little consistency.
