Kagu also trapped for food and was considered a delicacy by European colonisers. It was also fashionable to own kagus as pets. A campaign was run from 1977–1982 to phase out the pet trade in kagus. Today, the kagu is considered very important in New Caledonia; it is a high-profile endemic emblem for the territory. Its distinctive song used to be played to the nation every night as the island's TV station signed off the air. Its survival is considered important for the territory's economy and image. Kagu The kagu or cagou ("Rhynochetos jubatus") is a crested, long-legged, and bluish-grey bird
Kagu gruiform, the kagu is generally considered related to the extinct adzebills from New Zealand and the sunbittern from Central and South America. Recent studies do indicate that the sunbittern is the closest living relative of the kagu. For example, Fain & Houde found these to be certainly sister taxa. They and the mesites did not group with traditional Gruiformes in their study, but instead with their proposed clade Metaves, which also includes the hoatzin, pigeons, Caprimulgiformes, flamingos, tropicbirds, Apodiformes, sandgrouse and grebes. The internal structure of this group was not well resolvable by their data, although later studies confirmed a