It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of Don Merton this weekend. Don saved the Chatham Island Robin from extinction, and was instrumental in getting the current kakapo recovery going. He was clearly quite a character and his appearance in the TV series of Last Chance To See was very inspiring. Here is the DOC media release. He will be greatly missed.

Don Merton revolutionised methods which brought the black robin back from a single female on a remote island in the Chathams to a flourishing population of more than 200 today.

He also led the team responsible for discovering the last kakapo in Fiordland and managing their recovery through an innovative breeding programme on protected islands. He worked to save South Island saddlebacks from extinction, and used his knowledge to help other species both in New Zealand and across the world.

I was very sad to learn this week that acclaimed conservationist Don Merton is very ill with pancreatic cancer and is being cared for at his home by wife Margaret. The Dominion Post has the story. My prayers are with him and his family at this difficult time.

Friends and conservationists have been paying tribute to 72-year-old Dr Merton, describing his achievements as extraordinary, world-leading and inspirational.

He has previously credited a childhood fascination with his grandmother's canary as the spur behind a career in saving some of the country's most endangered birds.

His idea to move eggs from the nests of Chatham Island black robins to tomtit nests saw the species recover from a point at which there was only one breeding pair left in the 1980s. Later, his determination to save the kakapo meant the last remaining birds from Fiordland were moved to a predator-free island.

I have just spent a very enjoyable afternoon engrossed in Scott Mouat's new documentary film "The Unnatural History of the Kakapo", which will be available for purchase through the Elwin Productions website in February 2010. Thanks again to Scott for sending me an advance copy. I really appreciate it, and it was a real privilege for me to see the film so early.

Here is the trailer for the film, followed by a short review from me...

Four years in the making, the film covers the history of the Kakapo from before humans arrived in New Zealand through to the present day. It then details the conservation efforts that have brought the bird back from near extinction to the 124 birds we have today.

The conservation story begins with Richard Treacy Henry's ultimately doomed attempt to transplant Kakapo to Resolution Island in the late 1800's to keep them safe from stoats and weasels. The story then continues with Don Merton's rescue program of the early 1970's which led to the Kakapo being installed on Codfish Island. Don features in the film as he and a small team return to Fiordland to see if there is any chance any lone Kakapos are still out there.

Finally, the story moves to the present day, with Dr. Ron Moorhouse and the rest of the Kakapo Recovery Programme team, learning how to gently extract sperm from males and artificially inseminate the females in order to coax the genetic diversity of the population in the right direction - a project we now know to have been a success - see Kakapo Artificial Insemination a 2009 Success .

Sometimes heartwarming, sometimes deeply tragic, Scott's film is a wonderful record of the dedication shown by a team of passionate conservationists, who are all doing their bit to save the world's favourite fat, green, flightless parrot.

I heartily recommend you buy a copy as soon as it becomes available, with 25% of all profits going to the Kakapo Recovery Programme.

You can learn more, and become a fan of the project at their Facebook Page : The Unnatural History of the Kakapo.

Cast your vote at the annual Forest and Bird "Bird of the Year" poll. The Kakapo won in 2008, but this year's poll appears to feature many more birds.

Don't forget the Chatham Island Robin, which Don Merton saved from extinction during the early 1980s, with the population only included a single female.

Issue 105 of Wanderlust magazine features a long interview with Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine about their experiences filming the upcoming TV series. Fortunately the entire interview is also available online at www.wanderlust.co.uk. Enjoy.

Mark, when you revisited these places, were the original contacts still there?

MC: Yes, that was amazing – in every case the people that Douglas and I originally met are either in the field doing the same jobs, protecting the same species, or are at least still involved. They were doing it long before Douglas and I visited and have been doing it for the twenty years since. For me, that’s one of the key things in conservation that gives me any hope at all; that there are these absolutely dedicated individuals who devote their lives – and in some cases like Kes Hillman Smith in Africa, who risk their lives – to protect one species. And there are many examples around the world where conservation groups haven’t saved the species but one or two individuals have.

SF: Lke Don Merton, an amazing guy.

MC: Yes, Mr Kakapo!

SF: Yes, he’s in his 70s and absolutely fantastic. They are inspiring people. The big lesson for me was just what a difference that an individual human being who is passionate can make.

The Otago Daily Times has an EXCELLENT article, along with four nice photographs, on the the Kakapo mating cycle, and Rod Morris' quest to record their elaborate mating ritual for posterity.

The pursuit of love is not easy for a male kakapo, though they are one of most highly sexed birds in the world, according to veteran New Zealand wildlife photographer and writer Rod Morris.

In the early 1970s, Morris accompanied Don Merton, of the former New Zealand Wildlife Service, on an expedition to find kakapo in Fiordland.

Merton took the first black-and-white photographs, while Morris took the first colour stills of the world's heaviest, only nocturnal and flightless parrot making its unique booming mating call.

The article concludes with mixed news about the early egg production of this year's season.

As the ODT went to press the rimu trees were flowering but it was too early to say whether they were going to have a bumper crop of fruit. Four females have mated successfully, and one bird, Lisa, has laid three eggs, though one was infertile and one embryo died. DOC workers are optimistic about the third egg.

Down in Gisborne, New Zealand, there is an exhibition going on called "Famous Faces 2" which features a profile of Don Merton. Don was the saviour of the Chatham Island black robin, and is a man who has done so much good work towards saving the Kakapo Parrot from extinction.

It is a joint venture between the Pride in Gisborne Trust and Tairawhiti Museum.

Following up on a successful exhibition of 29 personalities from the Gisborne and East Coast district in 2002, the latest exhibition is 21 additional -- but just as worthy -- profiles, said museum curator Dudley Meadows, who is also a Pride in Gisborne trustee.

The Gisborne Herald had the story back in January, but the exhibition continues through the end of March.

At the 5th World Conference for Science Journalists in Melbourne, Kim Griggs spoke during "How to make a big story bigger". Her speech focussed on the promotion of her Kakapo stories of recent years.

Kim Griggs, freelance science writer in New Zealand, has to make stories bigger “to make a living.”

The green fat nocturnal parrot — Kakapo — sold well. In one trip, Griggs sold the Kakapo story to COSMOS magazine for a feature, to the BBC by interviewing UK volunteers, and to New Scientist for artificial insemination. Though the real reason to pursue stories like the Kakapo is to hold one of the six Kakapos in her hand, Griggs says.

Griggs gave out some handy advice: develop relationships with editors and exploit resources such as list serves. Most importantly, show your credentials by creating a Web site.

You can listen to an MP3 audio of the speech, and Kim Griggs starts speaking at the 17 minute point.

We've covered Kim Griggs' work before on this site. e.g Winging It with Don Merton, and her own site is at KimGriggs.net.