First kākāpō chick in four years hatches on Valentine’s Day (https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2026-media-releases/first-kakapo-chick-in-four-years-hatches-on-valentines-day/)

First chick of the 2026 breeding season (https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/8/llm-predictions-for-2026/#1-year-k-k-p-parrots-will-have-an-outstanding-breeding-season)!

Kākāpō Yasmine hatched an egg fostered from kākāpō Tīwhiri on Valentine’s Day, bringing the total number of kākāpō to 237 – though it won’t be officially added to the population until it fledges.

Here’s why the egg was fostered:

“Kākāpō mums typically have the best outcomes when raising a maximum of two chicks. Biological mum Tīwhiri has four fertile eggs this season already, while Yasmine, an experienced foster mum, had no fertile eggs.”

Via MetaFilter (https://www.metafilter.com/212231/Happy-Valen-Kkp-Tines)

Tags: kakapo (https://simonwillison.net/tags/kakapo)