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One species Stolzenburg focuses on is the kakapo, a large, green, nocturnal parrot that is found only in New Zealand.

Stolzenburg tells NPR's Renee Montagne that because its only predators were in the sky, the kakapo had no need to fly and, therefore, couldn't.

"It exuded this particular scent also that was supposed to attract other kakapos," he says. "Of course, when the invaders got to New Zealand — when the rats and the cats and the weasels came to New Zealand — this was a bird that was just set up for massacre, and that's exactly what happened."

Saving New Zealand's Kakapos

Stolzenburg explains that in the 1800s, settlers arriving in New Zealand brought sheep and rabbits with them for game. Sheep ate much of the vegetation, and the rabbits, being rabbits, exploded in population. With their huge numbers and voracious appetites, they began eating the sheep's rangeland. So to deal with the rabbit problem, settlers introduced stoats — a member of the weasel clan and a terrific predator. But the stoats quickly found much easier prey than rabbits — kakapos.

Kakapo numbers quickly shrank so that, once New Zealand's third most populous bird, they soon only lived in small enclaves scattered around the country.

The New Zealand government made its first efforts at saving the bird in the 1890s, when it appointed a hunter and self-taught naturalist by the name of Richard Henry to be the birds' caretaker. He was tasked with establishing a refuge for the birds on an island off the southwest corner of New Zealand, known as Resolution Island. Henry spent the next 10 years gathering up as many kakapos as he could find — over 500 — and releasing them on the island.

Unfortunately for both Henry and the kakapo, Stolzenburg says, Resolution Island was within swimming distance of the mainland — and stoats can swim. Ten years after he began his project, Henry discovered a stoat on the island and realized his life's work had been in vain.

Conservation efforts slowed after Resolution Island, with kakapo sightings few and far between. But in the mid-20th century, the New Zealand government renewed its efforts to save the bird.

Conservationists were disheartened by their first efforts to find the parrots — old kakapo haunts were empty, and only a handful of birds were located. But an expedition in the 1970s was lucky enough to come across a population of close to 200 birds. It was the mother lode of the remaining kakapo population, and it provided conservationists with another opportunity to rehabilitate the species.

Pets - From my point of view

When I was younger, my neighbor reared 2 dogs - female dogs. They are very cute.Then they grew up. They become big. Not long after that, it is the mating season. Saw the dogs mating. Not long after that, I never saw the dogs again. According to the neighbor, they threw the dog away because they can't afford to have more than 2 dogs, and their puppies, so they threw them away (then why rear dog in first place? or why dun u guys sprayed (also known as castrate) them?). Hmmmm..... is it cruel or is it the reality of life? When something is cute and adorable, we liked them very much, then when they grew bigger, or older, the "likes" and "adore" become less and less. But not all are like that, I remember one of my friend, still kept his dog - no matter how old or ugly it became (ugly as in become sickly). Though not all will be that heartless, you can't deny their existence.

The Dog fancier

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