If you have never seen a kakapo, you are not alone. In fact, most people have only seen them in pictures and even those are quite rare. They come only from New Zealand and are a parrot that cannot fly. As you might imagine, that makes them incredibly susceptible to predation by such species as ferrets and minks. Luckily, these are not native New Zealand.

Unfortunately, humans brought these predators with them to the lush paradise of the kiwis. A man that was clearly smart beyond his time, began catching kakapos and ferrying them to an island that did not have these invaders in order to preserve the species.

In the late 1800’s, this man was executing the most logical approach to conservation of endangered species that is oft dismissed out of hand by today’s “better educated” leaders in conservation - safe-guarding a population until the threat in their endemic location can be mitigated. This premise is the reason for the continued development of all captive populations to provide a robust insurance policy against habitat destruction and poaching that society has been unable to stem for the last 50 yrs.

Yes, it is true that the US Endangered Species Act raised the profile of species, but merely listing them on a piece of paper does nothing to truly stop the cutting down of trees, production of plastic, and littering. Until these issues are addressed, let’s safeguard our valuables in a safety deposit box, also know as captivity.

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A forgotten pioneer, the depressed conservationist who rowed 500 kakapo's to safety