The numbers of Tawaki, or Fiordland Crested Penguins, have been slowly but steadily increasing on the West Coast. Tawaki are the third rarest of the world’s 18 penguin species with a population of around 7000. They stand 60 centimetres tall and weigh about 4 kilograms. Females lay two eggs each year but only one chick […]
Education Ranger, Lucy, took a couple of trips up to St Canice’s School in Westport this term, to join them as they started their penguin project. A visit from penguin detection dog Mena started their journey off and then a classroom session from Education Ranger, Lucy, to learn more about blue penguins and their threats. […]
A king penguin, likely from a large colony on Tasmanian State Reserve Macquarie Island, has been spotted airily ambling along the beach at Fortrose Spit, in Southland. Department of Conservation Murihiku operations manager John McCarroll said king penguins were fairly rare visitors to mainland New Zealand, but were probably annual visitors to the country’s subantarctic […]
Catherine reports on the latest Fiordland crested penguin / tawaki news from Gorge River: “Despite the late, shaky start with some lack of egg-laying, the chicks that made it seem to be doing really well. Yesterday I saw one moving down the creek with its parent, probably ready to leave. As I couldn’t get up […]
Chair and Tawaki Ranger, Robin Long, is out on an expedition to the Antipodes Islands with the Tawaki Project currently. Follow the team’s journey here: https://www.facebook.com/TawakiProject Try to spot the Robin, whilst conducting ground counts of Erect-crested penguin nests on Proclamation Island, Bounty Islands. […]
The West Coast Penguin Trust has maintained an active interest in the Ōkārito kororā colony since it was first surveyed in 2008 and has resurveyed the colony every few years since then. In late October Linden resurveyed the colony for the first time since 2018. Unlike most kororā colonies on the West Coast, the penguins […]
After our very successful trip to the beach a few weeks ago, where the students trained their Penguin Ranger skills, to be able to “Stop, Look, Listen, Freeze” when searching for penguins, Hokitika Primary’s Rūma Piwakawaka, year 2 class played a session of What’s in the box with Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, last week, to […]
Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, joined Hokitika Primary School Ruma (room) Piwakawaka with teachers Maria and Caitlin for a field trip to the beach last week. We explored all the tracks and things to see at the beach and were lucky enough to find fresh penguin tracks leading right into their class planting site! The students […]
The funny wildlife photo competition happens every year and one of the finalists this year was a Gentoo & a Magellanic penguin having a heated discussion, or a laugh, or…… https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/finalists/2022_finalists.php […]
A king penguin has been spotted more than a thousand kilometres from its home on a southern Tasmanian beach, but a wildlife expert says it may not be lost. It is believed to be only the third king penguin sighting on Tasmanian shores in 15 years. The closest king penguin colony is on Macquarie Island, […]
