For The Birds - Deidre & The Great Kakapo Comeback

Doc’s Deidre Vercoe (41) Has Won a 2019 Blake Award for Her Work – but the Bigger Prize Lies Deep in Our Island Forests

- Lynley Ward

Quick-fire:

My dream holiday would be... Walking or biking in an amazing landscape, with wildlife to spot and a different culture to absorb.

When I need to whip up a fast meal I always...

Stare into the fridge to see what might jump out!

The best book I’ve ever read is...

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

“There are more kakapo alive today than there have been for more than 70 years. When I started working with the programme in 2002, we had 86 birds in total. This year alone, we hatched 86 chicks, and 72 of them are still with us. They’re all around 150 days old so we can start counting them as part of the official population. We just broke through 200 and could get up to 214!

Wherever you find kakapo and takahe, they’re looked after by a team based in Invercargill and Te Anau. Most of the time I’m sitting at a desk in Invercargill chasing emails, but I still do occasionally get to chase birds.

I made my first volunteer trip down to Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) in 1997 and that’s when I met my first kakapo , Sirocco. He’s world-famous now but at that time he was a chick in the pen, probably around five months old, which is an amazing age for a kakapo because they’re like toddlers – curious and playful. I remember he leapt off my colleague Daryl Eason’s shoulder and straight into my arms! He was quite intimidating because he’s a big bird, but it was a pretty amazing encounter.