 In 1989 , a Kakapo Recovery programme was developed and a Kakapo Recovery Group established to implement it . The New Zealand Department of Conservation replaced the Wildlife Service for this task . The first action of the plan was to relocate all the remaining kakapo to suitable islands for them to breed . None of the New Zealand islands were ideal to establish kakapo without rehabilitation by extensive re @-@ vegetation and the eradication of introduced mammalian predators and competitors . Four islands were finally chosen : Maud , <unk> / Little Barrier , Codfish and Mana . Sixty @-@ five kakapo ( 43 males , 22 females ) were successfully transferred onto the four islands in five <unk> . Some islands had to be rehabilitated several times when feral cats , stoats and <unk> kept appearing . Little Barrier Island was eventually viewed as unsuitable due to the rugged landscape , the thick forest and the continued presence of rats , and its birds were evacuated in 1998 . Along with Mana Island , it was replaced with two new kakapo sanctuaries , <unk> Island ( Te <unk> ) and Anchor Island . The entire kakapo population of Codfish Island was temporarily relocated in 1999 to Pearl Island in Port <unk> while rats were being eliminated from Codfish . All kakapo on Pearl and <unk> Islands were moved to Anchor Island in 2005 . 
