 The first factor in the decline of the kakapo was the arrival of humans . Māori folklore suggests that the kakapo was found throughout the country when the <unk> first arrived in <unk> 700 years ago . <unk> and <unk> deposits show that the bird was present throughout the North Island , South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura before and during early Māori times . Māori hunted the kakapo for food and for their skins and feathers , which were made into <unk> . They used the dried heads as ear ornaments . Due to its flightlessness , strong scent and habit of freezing when threatened , the kakapo was easy prey for the Māori and their dogs . Its eggs and chicks were also preyed upon by the Polynesian rat or <unk> , which the Māori brought to New Zealand . Furthermore , the deliberate clearing of vegetation by Māori reduced the <unk> range for kakapo . Although the kakapo was extinct in many parts of the islands by the time Europeans arrived , including the <unk> and <unk> Ranges , it was still present in the central part of the North Island and forested parts of the South Island . 
