3 Feb 2014

Kakapo eggs raise hopes

4:44 pm on 3 February 2014

The Department of Conservation is hoping the discovery of the first kakapo eggs in three years is the first sign of a successful breeding season.

Two Kakapo eggs on Codfish Island.

Tumeke's two eggs. Codfish Island. Photo: SUPPLIED

Two birds, on Whenua Hou or Codfish Island - off Stewart Island, are nesting but it will be another week before it is known if the eggs are fertile.

Five more are known to have mated but have not laid eggs yet.

One-hundred and 24 kakapo are left - an increase from a low of 51 in 1995.

The department's services manager for Kakapo and takahe, Deidre Vercoe, says they now have to wait and see if the eggs develop.

Deidre Vercoe says the nests are an extremely exciting find, after two years without breeding.