The Kakapo, or owl parrot, is a large flightless bird found on two New Zealand islands: Codfish Island and Anchor Island. In the 1990s their numbers dropped to as low as 50 birds but this figure is now on the rise.

Deidre Vercoe is responsible for running a conservation scheme which monitors each one of the remaining birds to keep them safe and to encourage them to breed.

From the series Eco-Heroines