 In 1891 , the New Zealand government set aside Resolution Island in Fiordland as a nature reserve . In 1894 , the government appointed Richard Henry as caretaker . A keen naturalist , Henry was aware that native birds were declining , and began catching and moving kakapo and <unk> from the mainland to the predator @-@ free Resolution Island . In six years , he moved more than 200 kakapo to Resolution Island . By 1900 , however , stoats had <unk> to Resolution Island and colonised it ; they wiped out the nascent kakapo population within 6 years . 
