Controversy has erupted again over New Zealand’s Bird of the Year award. The popular kakapo, who has already won the election twice, is excluded from participation this year. This should give other less charismatic birds the space they need to get noticed, the organization believes.
According to the organization, the parrot will not be banned forever. “It’s a pause and certainly not a lifetime ban,” a spokesperson told the British newspaper. The Guardian. “But you know, if the same bird keeps winning every year, maybe it’s not that interesting.”
The kakapo won the honor in 2008 and 2020. As a result, more attention has been given to endangered parrot species. It even turned out so well that the kakapos are no longer threatened with extinction. The population has grown from 50 birds in the 1990s to 252 today.
Kakapos are the heaviest parrots in the world. The “mighty moskip”, as the clownish kakapo is also called, cannot fly. Because of these endearing qualities, the bird quickly became a crowd favorite.
On Twitter, kakapo fans reacted with disappointment when they learned that the species was not on the list of nominated birds this year. “He was forced into it,” one tweeted. “He was robbed,” replied another.
The election of the birds knows several scandals
The New Zealand Bird Election has often been discredited. For example, the 2020 polls were marked by several scandals. A chain of erotic shops then campaigned to support the polyamorous yellow-banded honeyeater. And the little gray kiwi received fifteen hundred votes in one night, all of which turned out to be from the same IP address.
Last year, the organization allowed a bat to participate in the election. This made a lot of noise, since the animal species is not a bird and even a mammal. The turmoil grew even greater when the Bat also won the election.
The New Zealand Bird of the Year election was first held in 2005 and has been immensely popular ever since.
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