Kākāpō Parasite Decline May Imply Extinction For the Parrot

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Researchers from the University of Adelaide, New Zealand’s Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research and University of Auckland have found that greater than 80 per cent of parasites detected in kākāpō poo previous to the Nineteen Nineties are now not current in up to date populations.

The undertaking used historic DNA and microscopic methods to pattern faeces relationship again greater than 1500 years, with 9 of 16 unique parasite taxa disappearing previous to the Nineteen Nineties, when the endangered parrot got here underneath full-population administration, and an extra 4 recorded as misplaced within the interval since.

“Despite their sometimes negative portrayal, parasites are increasingly appreciated for their ecological importance,” says the University of Adelaide’s Dr Jamie Wood, who contributed to the research revealed in Current Biology.

“Parasites are among the planet’s most ubiquitous, successful, and species-rich groups of organisms, and nearly all free-living species harbor some parasites. They may help with immune system development and compete to exclude foreign parasites that may be more harmful to their hosts”.

“However, the dependence of parasites on living hosts may make them susceptible to extinction, especially as many parasites live with just one host species.”

An extinction of a parasite that happens in tandem with its host is called a secondary extinction or a coextinction, and it typically occurs at a quicker fee than for the host animal.

“Predictive models indicate that parasites may go extinct before their hosts during the coextinction process as opportunities to transmit between host individuals diminish,” says Dr Wood.

“As a consequence, faunal declines could have an enduring affect on parasite communities, even when host populations ultimately recuperate.

“Dependent species, like parasites, are hardly ever preserved or documented previous to their extinction, and so till now we now have had few information to point the precise scale of the coextinction course of.

“Our new research indicates that parasite extinctions may be far more prevalent than previous estimates suggest, with unknown impacts on their hosts and their ecosystems.”

Lead creator Alexander Boast, from Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, was stunned on the diploma of parasite loss.

“The level of parasite loss in kākāpō was greater than we had expected, and very few parasite species were found in both ancient and modern kākāpō populations. Thus, it seems that endangered species everywhere may possess fractions of their original parasite communities,” he says.

As we reckon with the impacts of biodiversity loss, Dr Wood says due consideration must also be given to parasitic life.

“Global rates of climate change, ecosystem modification, and biodiversity decline continue to rise, which means there is an increasingly urgent need to recognise and understand the downstream impacts on dependent species, such as parasites, mutualists, or predators,” he says.

“Documenting parasite extinction, how quickly it can unfold, and estimating the number of presently threatened parasites are key first steps toward a “global parasite conservation plan” and supporting informed predictions for past, present, and future parasite losses.”

Reference: Boast AP, Wood JR, Bolstridge N, et al. Long-term parasite decline related to close to extinction and conservation of the critically endangered kākāpō parrot. Curr Bio. 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.07.009

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