Way back when we created our kids’ science book Born Smart? (yes we are getting back to updating it here, it’s been a busy year), we had a chapter called Problems with Instinct. One of the animals we talked about was the kakapo, a large, gorgeous, flightless parrot from New Zealand. We’ll let the pages below, currently in different states of restoration, expand on the kakapo’s problems.
Why do we bring this up now? Well, what initially brought the kakapo to our attention was the book Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. Almost 20 years later, Carwardine and Stephen Fry (in place of the late Mr. Adams) retraced their steps to see how or if some of the animals have coped since. The TV show is just out in Britain, and look! here’s an old friend very happy to see zoologist Carwardine! Oh so happy!
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JHGRedekop says:
October 5, 2009 at 8:59 am (UTC 0)
I loved Adams’s description of the Kakapo as a bird which had “not only forgotten how to fly, but has forgotten that it’s forgotten how to fly.”