It's as plump as a goose, has the face of an owl and waddles like a duck. It sleeps in the day and is active at night. And it can climb just about anything but can't fly anywhere.

No wonder people call the kakapo the strangest parrot on Earth.

Once found in large numbers all over New Zealand, kakapo (pronounced caw-caw-poe) have been perched on the edge of disappearing for more than a century. What humans started, by reducing the birds' habitat and food supply, predators such as cats, rats and weasel-like stoats nearly finished.

As of 1977, trackers counted just 18 kakapo left in the entire country - all of them males. The end seemed in sight.

Then something amazing happened. A previously unknown kakapo population was found. It included the first females seen in more than 60 years. This exciting discovery stirred government-led efforts to help the parrots by moving them to three small, predator-free islands.