Bird conservation into areas with native wild birds. Translocations involve moving populations of threatened species into areas of suitable habitat currently unused by the species. There are several reasons for doing this; the creation of secondary populations that act as an insurance against disaster, or in many cases threats faced by the original population in its current location. One famous translocation was of the kakapo of New Zealand. These large flightless parrots were unable to cope with introduced predators in their remaining habitat on Stewart Island, so were moved to smaller offshore islands that had been cleared of predators. From there a
Kakapo nests are intensively managed. Before Polynesian rats were removed from Whenua Hou, they were a threat to the survival of young kakapo. Of 21 chicks that hatched between 1981 and 1994, nine were either killed by rats or died and were subsequently eaten by rats. Nest protection was intensified after 1995 by using traps and poison stations as soon as a nest was detected. A small video camera and infra-red light source would watch the nest continuously, and scare approaching rats with flashing lights and loud popping sounds. All kakapo islands are now rat-free, but infrared cameras still allow rangers