"Tōmua" Strigops habroptilus (Kākāpō)
Chick, just hours after hatching, in the hand-rearing room on Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, New Zealand. "Tōmua" means "early" in Te Reo Māori; and he was named this as he was only the second kākāpō ever known to have hatched in January.
This photo became somewhat symbolic of the 2019 kākāpō breeding season for me. In it, he appears exhausted and gasping for air having just struggled out of his egg in an incubator. Although this particular individual was unaffected by it, the respiratory disease aspergillosis caused several deaths, and the season to be prolonged and exhaustive, physically and mentally for all of the people involved in kākāpō recovery.
"Tōmua" Strigops habroptilus (Kākāpō)
Chick, just hours after hatching, in the hand-rearing room on Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, New Zealand. "Tōmua" means "early" in Te Reo Māori; and he was named this as he was only the second kākāpō ever known to have hatched in January.
This photo became somewhat symbolic of the 2019 kākāpō breeding season for me. In it, he appears exhausted and gasping for air having just struggled out of his egg in an incubator. Although this particular individual was unaffected by it, the respiratory disease aspergillosis caused several deaths, and the season to be prolonged and exhaustive, physically and mentally for all of the people involved in kākāpō recovery.