Sirocco (parrot)

Sirocco (born 23 March 1997) is a Kakapo, a flightless and nocturnal parrot in New Zealand. He is one of the last of his kind, whose total stock 125 copies (as of March 3, 2014 ) is.

Life

Sirocco slipped on March 23, 1997 Codfish Iceland, a small island in northwestern Iceland Stewart at the southern tip of New Zealand. At the age of three weeks Sirocco suffered from a respiratory disease that had the separation from his mother Zephyr result. The young bird was raised in the " Department of Conservation " by gamekeepers by hand.

By breeding by man he got used to in later years, not to his own kind. This unusual behavior also applies to the " booming ", the mating ritual of the Kakapo: Although courtship behavior exists, but Sirocco balzt only in the presence of humans, but not in female kakapo. Nevertheless, its role is very important as a mouthpiece for the conservation of kakapo.

Since 2006 Sirocco Kakapo regularly on Ulva Iceland at meetings; in September 2009, he was seen in the Auckland Zoo and he has since been found in various wildlife parks, including the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and Maungatautari Ecological Iceland.

Media attention

The animal primarily by the BBC television series Last Chance to See, which is based on the book Last Chance to See the zoologist Mark Carwardine became known. There, he tried to mate with the zoologist on camera. Given the global nature of a shipment of television and the Internet, both the international recognition of the kakapo as well as those Siroccos increased. 2010 gave the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to the bird the title of "Official Spokesbird for Conservation " (Eng. Official Bird ambassador for species protection).