In early February hard effort by rangers Jake and Sara paid off and Sirocco was once again relocated. He was happy and well and was quickly fitted with a new, working transmitter so that we will be able to find him again.

Sirocco was the first male kākāpō to be hand reared after he suffered from a respiratory illness as a chick. Due to this he was hand reared alone and imprinted on people. As an imprinted bird he’s not interested in contributing genetically to the kākāpō population, but it does mean that he makes a fantastic ambassador as he enjoys being around people and doesn’t find it stressful.

Despite it almost being two years since we’d last seen him, he remains fairly social and was happy to accept treats from the rangers.