Updated 19 November 2020 at 11:40 IST
Kakapo wins New Zealand’s 'Bird of The Year' title after voter fraud ruffled contest
Forest and Bird took to its official Facebook handle and announced Kakapo as the winner of the Bird Of The Year contest 2020.
New Zealand's leading independent conservation organisation, Forest and Bird took to its official Facebook handle and announced Kakapo as the winner of the Bird Of The Year contest 2020. The announcement came after a voter fraud scandal. Few days back, the organization released an official statement saying that it had discovered 1500 fraudulent votes for the kiwi pukupuku/little-spotted kiwi in Bird of the Year contest.
Bird of the Year
The statement read, “The illegitimate votes briefly pushed the kiwi pukupuku to the top of the preferred bird leaderboard, but the votes have since been removed from the competition”. Laura Keown spokesperson for Bird of the Year said, “It's lucky we spotted this little kiwi trying to sneak in an extra 1500 votes under the cover of darkness! But they’ll have to play by the rules like all of the other birds to win the competition”. It was after the discounting that the organization made a Facebook post with the image of the bird with a congratulations message.
The caption read, “Congratulations to the Kakapo – Winner of #BirdOfTheYear 2020 and the first bird to win twice”. It further said, “Thanks to everyone who got involved in #BOTY. #TeamBlackRobin are pretty happy with our bronze”.
(Image Credits: forestandbird.org.nz)
The congratulatory statement on the official website spoke about how New Zealand's birds are in trouble. The statement said, "Unfortunately, many of New Zealand's native birds are in trouble and need your help. Eighty percent of our birds are threatened or at risk of extinction. Their habitats are being destroyed or degraded by introduced predators, pollution, human development, and climate change".
Talking about the winner species, the statement said that these species used to live throughout Aotearoa. However, today they survive on a predator free islands. The statement further thanked the intensive conservation efforts, through which the species have come back from the edge of extinction. The number of the species has also increased from 50 birds in the 1990s, to 213 individuals today.
The annual Bird competition is more than just a popularity contest. As per the official site, the conservation group Forest & Bird runs the election-based competition to help raise awareness about the country’s native bird species, many of which are endangered. Laura said that New Zealand is a land of birds, and the country has some “most amazing” and “unique” species.
Also Read: Voter Fraud Ruffles New Zealand’s ‘Bird Of The Year’ Competition, 1500 Votes Disqualified
(Image Credits: Facebook/Honeywrap)
Published By : Akanksha Arora
Published On: 19 November 2020 at 11:42 IST