Due to its inability to fly, strong scent and habit of freezing when threatened, the kakapo was easy prey for the Māori and their dogs. Its eggs and chicks were also preyed upon by the Polynesian rat or kiore, which the Māori brought to New Zealand as a stowaway. Furthermore, the deliberate clearing of vegetation by Māori reduced the habitable range for kakapo. Although the kakapo was extinct in many parts of the islands by the time Europeans arrived, including the Tararua and Aorangi Ranges, it was locally abundant in parts of New Zealand, such as the central North Island and forested parts of the South Island.