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Kakapo (Canterbury) Traditional Cache

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TwoSharpe: Lost by fire and now within adventure park fenced off perimeter. Sadly an extinction level event

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Hidden : 5/9/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Another wee bird relseased on the Port Hills. This one initally being so hard to locate was not able to be published as it wanted to cozy up to close to another bird. Now relocated slightly off the beaten trail, but still on a side trail nonetheless.


Trees up here can make co-rds +/- 10m or less so have made hints very specific. Its not a marked trail, bit still a pretty obvious trail used mainly by mountain bikers. Only a short diversion from the other main trails. WATCH FOR BIKES!

The kakapo (Māori: kākāpō or night parrot), Strigops habroptilus (Gray, 1845), also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the super-family Strigopoidea endemic to New Zealand.[2]

It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc of sensory, vibrissa-like feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet, and wings and a tail of relatively short length. A combination of traits make it unique among its kind; it is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate and no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds.[3] Its anatomy typifies the tendency of bird evolution on oceanic islands, with few predators and abundant food: a generally robust physique, with accretion of thermodynamic efficiency at the expense of flight abilities, reduced wing muscles, and a diminished keel on the sternum.[3] Like many other New Zealand bird species, the kakapo was historically important to the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, appearing in many of their traditional legends and folklore. It was hunted and used as a resource by Māori, both for its meat as a food source and for its feathers, which were used to make highly valued pieces of clothing. It was also sometimes kept as a pet.

The kakapo is critically endangered; as of March 2014, with an additional six[4] from the first hatchings since 2011, the total known population is only 126[5] living individuals, as reported by the Kakapo Recovery programme, most of which have been given names.[6] Because of Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats, the kakapo was almost wiped out. Conservation efforts began in the 1890s, but they were not very successful until the implementation of the Kakapo Recovery plan in the 1980s. As of April 2012, surviving kakapo are kept on three predator-free islands, Codfish (Whenua Hou), Anchor and Little Barrier islands, where they are closely monitored.[7][8] Two large Fiordland islands, Resolution and Secretary, have been the subject of large-scale ecological restoration activities to prepare self-sustaining ecosystems with suitable habitat for the kakapo. The New Zealand government is willingly providing the use of these islands to kakapo conservation.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Snyyra ybt ol genvy, ybbx sbe n fgbar.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)