The endangered Kakapo parrot and the Kiwi bird, what do you know about them?

Mankind ruthlessly destroys nature andstopping it is extremely difficult. For example, can you right now wean at least a couple of smokers to throw cigarette butts on the ground? It is unlikely, but even one discarded cigarette interferes with the growth of grass and harms insects. To the animal world, man does the same great harm and the state of New Zealand is the best proof of this. Once upon a time, unusually beautiful birds inhabited on its territory, which could not be found on other continents. Now, most of them are completely exterminated, but scientists believe that this error can be corrected. This is hard to believe.

The birds living in New Zealand are trulyare unique. The fact is that the animal world of the two islands, on which the state is located, developed in isolation from the whole world. Local birds practically did not interbreed with species that arrived from other continents, and therefore have an unusual appearance and character. Take, for example, kakapo parrots that are on the verge of extinction.

Content

• 1 The oldest birds in the world
• 2 Birds on the verge of extinction
• 3 Extinct bird species
• 4 How to save nature?

The oldest birds in the world

Cacapos are also known as owl parrots andconsidered one of the most ancient birds on Earth. These yellow-green creatures have too short, rounded wings, so they cannot fly. By their nature, these birds are very friendly and are very attached to people for their good attitude. Where would you see such a bird, if not in New Zealand? Perhaps it was because of the inability to fly and excessive credulity that these birds were on the verge of extinction.

Cacapo Parrot

The fact is that the natural naivety of these birdsdid not arise from scratch. New Zealand was inhabited by humans only about 700 years ago, and until then, the only mammals on these islands were bats. Parrots had nothing to fear, so they did not develop protective instincts. The indigenous people of New Zealand, known as the Maori people, easily caught them and ate them. The meat of these birds was considered a delicacy, so it is not surprising that they were almost completely wiped off the face of the Earth.

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That cacapo birds are on the verge ofextinction, it became clear in the XIX century. In addition to being exterminated by humans, rats, cats and other animals also began to hunt them. In 1999, there were only 62 owl parrots in the world, but biologists began to actively breed them in captivity and release them into protected areas. Due to this, by January 2019, the number of these rare birds has increased to 147 individuals. Almost every one of them has a name.

In New Zealand, in addition to birds, a vampire tree lives

Birds on the verge of extinction

But cacapo parrots are not the only onesNew Zealand birds on the verge of extinction. They also include kiwi birds, which lead a very secretive lifestyle, and mankind found out about their imminent extinction quite late. Scientists estimate that more than 12 million kiwi birds lived in the islands' forests about 1,000 years ago. Then, people appeared on the islands, and by 2004 the population of rare birds had fallen to 70,000 individuals.

Kiwi bird

And all this despite the fact that kiwi are differentendurance and resistance to environmental changes. At some time, their population in one year decreased by as much as 6%, and all this due to human exposure. People made a big mistake by bringing cats, dogs and foxes to the island, who began to actively hunt tiny birds. In addition, people cut down forests, so many individuals died due to lack of space for creating safe nests.

Extinct bird species

And this is only about birds on the vergeextinction - there are plenty of extinct species of birds in New Zealand. Take, for example, birds of the species Aegotheles novaezealandiae, which belong to the family of owl goats. Their remains were found in 1968 by the paleozoologist Ron Scarlett. The exact reason for the extinction of this species of birds is unknown, but it is somehow related to the activities of the Maori people who arrived on the islands hundreds of years ago.

Aegotheles novaezealandiae birds might look like current owl goats

How to save nature?

According to scientists, to fix their bigmistake and restore the bird population in New Zealand, humanity could take about 50 million years. That is, it will not be possible to restore the animal kingdom of the islands, because even the first bipedal people arose only about 2 million years ago. At the moment, it is even difficult for humanity to imagine how widespread such a period of time is - what kind of restoration of the population of all birds exterminated in New Zealand can be discussed?

The destruction of animals is not so bad. Mankind has already destroyed 500 species of plants

Now it is important for humanity to prevent extinctioncurrently living animals. The human impact on nature has become so disastrous that even the fastest cheetahs on earth have only about 7,100 individuals left. So, we are switching to environmentally friendly transport and stop littering nature with plastic waste? You can make your contribution to the conservation of nature every day without problems, simply without throwing cigarette butts and other rubbish onto the ground.

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