Turning the tide for the yellow-eyed penguin

NEW ZEALAND – Government, iwi, NGOs and rehabilitation groups are working together to turn around the fortunes of the nationally endangered yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho) following a series of terrible breeding seasons.

The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage helped launch the Five Year Action Plan at the annual Yellow-Eyed Penguin symposium in Dunedin on 1 August 2020. She said:

I am very pleased at the effort being put in for Hoiho conservation through the partnership between the Department of Conservation (DOC), Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and Fisheries New Zealand. The partners developed Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho and Te Mahere Rima Tau, the Five Year Action Plan for hoiho released today.

Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho is a high-level strategy which aims to restore hoiho populations in the face of pressures from human activities at sea and on land.

The strategy for hoiho is the first to follow this partnership approach. It underlines the importance of a united effort to protect and restore the populations of hoiho and other taonga species. I want to thank community groups for their huge efforts to help hoiho conservation.

Study recommends special protection of emperor penguins

ANTARCTICA – In a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation, an international team of researchers recommends the need for additional measures to protect and conserve one of the most iconic Antarctic species – the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri).

Adult emperor penguins with chick
on the sea ice close to Halley Research
Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf.
Photo credit: British Antarctic Survey

The researchers reviewed over 150 studies on the species and its environment as well as its behaviour and character in relation to its breeding biology. Current climate change projections indicate that rising temperatures and changing wind patterns will negatively impact the sea ice on which emperor penguins breed. Some studies indicate that emperor populations will decrease by more than 50% over the current century.

The researchers therefore recommend that the species be escalated to ‘vulnerable’ from its current status as ‘near threatened’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They conclude that improvements in climate change forecasting in relation to impacts on Antarctic wildlife would be beneficial, and recommend that the emperor penguin should be listed by the Antarctic Treaty as a Specially Protected Species.

Plan to reverse precarious position of yellow-eyed penguin

NEW ZEALAND – Government, iwi and a community organisation have banded together to turn around the fortunes of the nationally endangered hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin, which recently suffered a series of poor breeding seasons.

At the annual hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin symposium in Dunedin on 3 August, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho/Yellow-eyed Penguin Recovery Strategy. It is a draft strategy to restore hoiho populations in the face of pressures from human activities, climate change and predators, alongside a supporting action plan.

Penguins and their chicks’ responses to local fish numbers informs marine conservation

SOUTH AFRICA – How adult penguins fish and the body condition of their chicks are directly linked to local fish abundance, and could potentially inform fishery management, a new study has found.

African penguin adult at the edge of the colony
on Robben Island, South Africa.
Photo credit: R.B. Sherley

The researchers studied an endangered African penguin colony during a rare three-year closure of commercial fisheries around Robben Island, South Africa, and their findings were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Fishing is often considered to be one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss in the ocean. It is so widespread that we lack an understanding of the ‘natural’ relationships between marine predators and their prey, and thus the extent to which predators are disrupted by competition from fisheries.

This is a critical knowledge gap since many marine predators such as penguins are considered indicator species: a species whose success indicates the condition of their habitat.

Fishing nets major threat to penguins

AUSTRALIA – The results of the first global review of penguin bycatch are in – and they highlight the serious risks that fishing nets pose to the survival of many penguin species. The study was published in the journal Endangered Species Research.

Penguins are among the world’s most iconic and loved birds, in spite of the fact most people will never get to see one in the wild. And opportunities to do so are diminishing, with 10 of the 18 penguin species threatened with extinction. After albatrosses, penguins are the most threatened group of seabirds. And this global review shows that, as it is for albatrosses, bycatch is a serious threat to some penguin species.

Yellow-eyed penguin nest numbers down

NEW ZEALAND – Recent yellow-eyed/hoiho penguin nest counts on mainland New Zealand indicate a continued decline in numbers in some areas for this rare species, said Department of Conservation (DOC) Threatened Species Ambassador Nicola Toki.

DOC carries out monitoring, research, and intensive management for yellow-eyed penguins alongside Treaty Partner Ngāi Tahu, key programme partner the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, University of Otago, important local associates such as Penguin Place and Penguin Rescue, community groups and volunteers.

New Zealand penguins in crisis

NEW ZEALAND – The world’s threatened penguin species live in New Zealand and yet there is no co-ordinated government plan to protect them, New Zealand conservation organisation Forest & Bird has said.

Forest & Bird is joining a global Protect a Penguin campaign to help save penguins and is calling for a national recovery plan to protect New Zealand’s struggling penguin species.

The world’s penguins are in crisis with 10 of out of 18 species at risk of being wiped out. Five of these threatened species live and breed on New Zealand’s mainland and sub-Antarctic islands.

"We are urging the New Zealand government to establish a national Penguin Recovery Group, administered by the Department of Conservation. This group, similar to the very successful Kiwi Recovery Group, would facilitate a more coordinated and collaborative approach to the conservation of all our penguins," said Forest & Bird's CE Kevin Hague.

Penguin hospital saves five percent of yellow-eyed population

NEW ZEALAND – The penguin hospital at Otago Polytechnic’s School of Veterinary Nursing has had 24 yellow-eyed penguins through in the last six weeks.

With only 250 breeding pairs in the wild this year, that means that wildlife vet Lisa Argilla has saved five percent of the breeding population.

“Yellow-eyed penguins are one of the rarest penguins in the world, and are unique to New Zealand.  If we don’t look after them now, they will die out” Dr Argilla said.

Buster the penguin busted up again

NEW ZEALAND – The yellow-eyed penguin hospital at Otago Polytechnic’s School of Veterinary Nursing is full with healing penguins. One is even back for a second visit with wildlife vet Lisa Argilla.

Dr Argilla recognised the unlucky penguin while checking huge gashes across his abdomen and right foot. He was her patient in 2015 when he was flown to her at Wellington Zoo for treatment.  At that time, she had to amputate his right toe. She nicknamed the bird “Buster” and hoped that was the last she’d see of him. But he was recently found injured at Papanui Beach on Otago Peninsula.

Penguin hospital opens in Otago

NEW ZEALAND  –  This (southern hemisphere) summer is looking a lot brighter for Otago’s yellow-eyed penguins. They now have their very own local hospital set up at Otago Polytechnic's School of Veterinary Nursing.

The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust successfully raised enough money to contract wildlife veterinarian Lisa Argilla for a second year. She has moved to Dunedin for the summer to care for injured penguins and said she couldn’t do it without the facility at Otago Polytechnic.

Caracal preys on African penguins in Simon's Town

Caracal caught on camera

SOUTH AFRICA – Camera surveillance has identified a caracal as the predator behind a spate of African penguin fatalities in Simon’s Town over the past two weeks.

The images confirming the large wild cat's presence were captured by trap cameras installed in the area by the City of Cape Town as part of its investigation into the deaths with Table Mountain National Park (TMNP).

Little penguin deaths likely due to natural causes

AUSTRALIA - An Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) investigation into water quality at Altona Beach has found the recent deaths of two little penguins and about six toadfish fish were likely due to natural causes.

EPA officers investigated after a member of the public reported seeing the penguins and fish washed up on the beach on 20 June.

Acting EPA Metropolitan Manager Danny Childs said while seeing dead wildlife washed up on Victoria’s beaches can be distressing, it isn’t always due to pollution.

Marine preserve to help penguins in a ‘predictably unpredictable’ place

An adult Galapagos penguin. Credit: Dee Boersma

ECUADOR – Since the Galapagos penguins can’t clap, Professor Dee Boersma will do it for them.

Boersma, a conservationist and professor of biology at the University of Washington, is applauding new regulations by the government of Ecuador to protect the waters around the Galapagos Islands as a marine preserve.

“It is very exciting,” said Boersma, who is a finalist for the 2016 Indianapolis Prize for her decades of penguin research and conservation efforts.

“We’ve been working for years in the Galapagos, advising officials in Ecuador to protect the fish-rich waters that penguins and other species rely upon for food.”

Penguin protection measures working in Simon's Town

SOUTH AFRICA - The City of Cape Town has released a statement thanking members of the public for their cooperation in ensuring its measures to protect endangered African penguins in Simon's Town are working.

No more penguins have been killed along the identified Simon’s Town hotspots since the measures were introduced on 1 November. They include mandatory leash areas for dog walkers, camera traps to monitor penguin attacks, and penguin monitors to ensure the birds are not harassed by visiting members of the public.

New protected areas for Argentina's Magellanic penguins

Adult Magellanic penguin and two chicks begging for food.
Photo credit: Dee Boersma

ARGENTINA – They live far from the North Pole, but Christmas came early for the stout-bodied, black and white Magellanic penguins of Patagonia's Punta Tombo region. On 3 December, the legislature for Chubut province established a new marine protected area off Punta Tombo, which would help preserve the feeding grounds for about 500,000 Magellanic penguins that make their home along this rocky stretch of Argentine coast.

"This is really exciting. We've long wanted to see the waters around Punta Tombo protected," said University of Washington (UW) biology professor Dee Boersma, who has been studying the Magellanic penguins there for more than 30 years.

Little penguin wardens thanked for their six month vigil

AUSTRALIA - The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) were joined by environmentalist Ian Kiernan AO at a special ceremony to thank the Manly little penguin wardens for their incredible dedication to protecting the little penguin colony at North Head through a tough breeding season.

Acting Head of NPWS Tom Bagnat said, despite the losses by fox attack early on, NPWS and the community successfully kept the remaining colony of little penguins safe for the rest of the breeding season.

“The community has been invaluable in helping parks’ staff to protect the little penguin colony over the past six months including assisting in the nightly vigil to keep the breeding birds safe from fox predation at their most vulnerable times,” Mr Bagnat said.

Sweltering heat further impacts yellow-eyed penguins

NEW ZEALAND - High temperatures throughout November have been unkind to Otago's yellow-eyed penguins, and nest numbers have hit rock bottom.

Despite the efforts of local conservation groups working hard to keep chicks alive, fewer than 190 breeding pairs have been counted on the Otago coast this season. In 2012, there were an estimated 491 breeding pairs.

Egg hatching success had remained around 85% in North Otago and on the Otago Peninsula, with avian diphtheria infection rates being up to 100% at some breeding sites. Some chicks had perished on hot days as they were still under full protection of their parent's body.

Yellow-eyed penguin numbers hit rock bottom

Yellow-eyed penguin at Penguin Place
Photo © The Pertinent Penguin

NEW ZEALAND - The yellow-eyed penguin (hōiho) breeding season is looking bleak again this year, with nest numbers reaching their lowest since 1990.

Department of Conservation (DOC), the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust (YEPT) and key groups involved with penguin monitoring have been counting nests for the past month. The results of this indicate nest numbers across Otago-Southland have dropped from 491 pairs in 2012 to just 160 counted so far this season. Some sites are still to be searched but numbers will probably not exceed 190 pairs.

Wellington Zoo takes the lead to help wild little blue penguins

NEW ZEALAND - Wellington Zoo and Forest & Bird’s Wellington Branch have joined forces on a targeted campaign to help protect the shy native birds that share our coastline – little blue penguins (also known as Kororā).

“Hundreds of Kororā call Wellington home, but lots of people don’t actually know about them or see them,” said Daniela Biaggio, Wellington Zoo Conservation Manager.

Dogs, however, can easily sniff out these strong smelling little birds – which can be bad news for little blue penguins, as research has shown that dogs off leash are one of the major threats to their survival.

Support for world’s smallest penguin

NEW ZEALAND  – The little blue penguin – the world’s smallest – is one of several West Coast seabirds that will receive support as part of the Community Conservation Partnership Fund’s support for West Coast conservation projects, said Associate Conservation Minister Nicky Wagner.

“The $98,000 investment will help the West Coast Penguin Trust conduct research and carry out practical projects to protect blue penguins and other West Coast seabirds,” Ms Wagner said.

“As well as the blue penguin, the investment will help to conserve the Fiordland crested penguins and other threatened seabirds and habitat on the West Coast.

“Projects include roadside fences to protect penguins from traffic, GPS logging of penguin feeding expeditions, education programmes, and studying seabirds and predator species in new locations for potential pest eradication and habitat restoration.”

Other West Coast conservation projects that will receive funding are the Mokihinui Biodiversity Enhancement Project, the Kawatiri River Trail Boardwalks, the Paparoa Wildlife Trust and the Okarito Community Nursery.

“Together, these projects will be a welcome boost for conservation on the West Coast,” Ms Wagner said.

Source
Support for the world's smallest penguin [press release], New Zealand Government, 18 September 2015, Scoop.co.nz