Kakapo low. Supplementary feeding affects the sex ratio of kakapo offspring, and can be used to increase the number of female chicks by deliberately manipulating maternal condition. During the winter of 1981, only females lighter than were given supplementary feeding to avoid raising their body condition, and the sex ratio results in 1982 were close to parity, eliminating the male-biased sex ratios in the unrestricted feeding. Today commercial parrot food is supplied to all individuals of breeding age on Whenua Hou and Anchor. The amount eaten and individual weights are carefully monitored to ensure that optimum body condition is maintained. Kakapo
Kakapo 1974 to 1978 a total of 18 kakapo were discovered in Fiordland, but all were males. This raised the possibility that the species would become extinct, because there might be no surviving females. One male bird was captured in the Milford area in 1975, christened "Richard Henry", and transferred to Maud Island. All the birds the Wildlife Service discovered from 1951 to 1976 were in U-shaped glaciated valleys flanked by almost-vertical cliffs and surrounded by high mountains. Such extreme terrain had slowed colonisation by browsing mammals, leaving islands of virtually unmodified native vegetation. However, even here, stoats were present and