Kakapo Codfish / Whenua Hou and Anchor, where they are closely monitored, and Little Barrier / Hauturu Island is being trialled as a third home for the species. The common English name "kakapo" comes from the Māori "kākāpō", from "kākā" ("parrot") + "pō" ("night"); the name is both singular and plural. "Kākāpō" is increasingly written in New Zealand English with the macrons that indicate long vowels. The kakapo was originally described by English ornithologist George Robert Gray in 1845 and named "Strigops habroptilus". Its generic name "Strigops" is derived from the Ancient Greek "strix", genitive "strigos" "owl", and "ops" "face", while
Kakapo of the kakapo until George Gray of the British Museum described it from a skin in 1845. As the Māori had done, early European explorers and their dogs ate kakapo. In the late 19th century, the kakapo became well known as a scientific curiosity, and thousands were captured or killed for zoos, museums and collectors. Most captured specimens died within months. From at least the 1870s, collectors knew the kakapo population was declining; their prime concern was to collect as many as possible before the bird became extinct. In the 1880s, large numbers of mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels) were