Saving the world's fattest parrot: can New Zealand vaccinate its rare species before bird flu gets to them?

In the last continent to remain untouched by the virus, hopes are being pinned on immunisation as migration season approachesIt is easy to imagine how it could happen. A petrel, flying east from the Indian Ocean at the end of the Austral winter, makes landfall at New Zealand's southern Codfish Island/Whenua Hou. Tired from its long journey, the petrel seeks refuge in the burrow of a green k?k?p?: a critically endangered flightless species that is the world's fattest parrot.If the seabird intrudes when the k?k?p? is primed to breed, the male parrot may attempt to mate with the smaller petrel, accidentally smothering it in the process. Continue reading...