Feb 21, 2005

Kakapo a flightless and nocturnal parrot

Saving parrots with a muesli aphrodisiac

Scientists in New Zealand have invented a Viagra-type drug to stoke the fires of passion in a rare species of parrot.

There are only 62 Kakapo parrots left because they are not feeling frisky enough.

But researchers think they may have cracked the problem to save the flightless birds with a muesli love potion.






The birds always get frisky when the rimu fruit buds, The Nelson Mail reports. So boffins are trying to replicate the key ingredients in that fruit to get the feathers flying.

The love potion will be fed to the parrots in a special muesli, combined with nuts, honey and calcium powder.

Graeme Elliot, a scientist for New Zealand's Department of Conservation, said, "Whatever it is in rimu fruit that makes them breed, we want to find out what it is and put in the muesli.

"We're not encouraging them just to have sex, we want them to breed. They've got to make babies, not just have fun."















The mixture costs about $10 (£2.70) a kilo to produce and is made like any muesli slice.

It is then shipped to Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds and Codfish Island near Stewart Island where the kakapo live. Each bird is fed a cupful of muesli every four days.

Humans are warned to stick to Viagra as the high-calorie mix will do nothing for people's sex drive.

"It'll only make them fat," Mr Elliot added

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