Kakapo mate only once every three or four years. They breed only in years when food is abundant, to insure plenty of nourishment for their chicks. Two or three eggs are laid on the ground, usually under a clump of tussock, in a hole in a bank or a rotten tree. Eggs in a hollow tree bottom. Kakapo chick with surrogate mother puppet.
Males play no part in rearing the young.
Thus, while the females search for food the young are left unattended for long periods at night. There is a ten week nesting period, and after the first few weeks the female visits the nest only once or twice each night to feed the chicks. Young kakapo stay on the ground and are very loudly vocal day and night. This makes them quite vulnerable to predatory mammals, and eggs are easily preyed upon by rats. There are now approximately 62 kakapo left in the world.