Dependant on captive breeding
Without captive breeding this species would be extinct. It is home to New Zealand facing continuous threats from farming and agriculture. No pairs have sucessfully bred in the wild so it is entirely dependant on the intensive breeding scheme that has been ongoing for over 20 years. Despite this long time period there are still only around 200 birds currently alive. The population may have numbered 500-1,000 birds in the 1940s by which time it had ceased to breed in the North Island and was rare as a breeding species in the lowlands. It continued to decline to a low of just 23 birds in 1981, when intensive management began . In 2001, the wild breeding population consisted of just seven pairs.
Hope is the thing with feathers on 