After 10,000 years of inbreeding, endangered flightless parrots from New Zealand are in surprisingly good genetic health
Published Date: 9/8/2021
Source: phys.org
Before humans made their way to New Zealand, the critically endangered flightless parrot known as the kākāpō likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands. By 1995, their numbers had dwindled to just 51 birds, including 50 isolated on tiny Stewart Island and a single male, known as Richard Henry, all alone on the mainland. Today, those numbers have grown to about 200 individuals.