Sirocco the kākāpō
You might remember it as shagged by a rare parrot, Sirocco Last Chance to See
Videos everybody knows33 of 40
2009·Early YouTube·informative
A critically endangered New Zealand parrot attempted to mate with a zoologist's head on the BBC, and became a national spokesbird.
More from hereIn this collection
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- shagged by a rare parrot
- Spread in
- 2009
- Began as
- A television broadcast
- Where it started
- broadcast
- Format
- Video
- Origin
- Not an upload originally
- Available
- Playable from the source
What this wasThe story
Filming the BBC series Last Chance to See on a New Zealand island in 2009, Stephen Fry and the zoologist Mark Carwardine are observing kākāpō — flightless nocturnal parrots down to a few dozen surviving birds. One of them, Sirocco, climbs onto Carwardine's head and enthusiastically attempts to mate with it. Fry's commentary, delivered without breaking stride, is the reason the clip travelled.
It is one of very few natural history clips to become a global meme, and the only one to have improved a conservation programme measurably. Sirocco had been hand-reared and imprinted on humans, which is why he behaved as he did — a detail that turns the joke into a genuinely sad fact about a species with almost no members left.
Sirocco was made Official Spokesbird for Conservation by the prime minister of New Zealand in January 2010, has drawn thousands of visitors on tour, and maintains social media accounts through human intermediaries. Kākāpō numbers have risen since. The clip is the most effective piece of conservation communication the species has ever had.
Why it is here: it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
This began as a television broadcast, not as a video upload. Originally published on broadcast. The version shown here is the broadcaster's own copy on YouTube.
Where it came fromWhat we know
There is no original upload to identify: this did not begin as one. What it began as is recorded here, and what is shown is a later copy.
View the broadcaster's copy on YouTube
Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This began as a television broadcast, not as a video upload. Originally published on broadcast.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.