Outgoing Trust Chair, Reuben Lane, introduces the Annual Report and shares some highlights from the 2020-21 year. Having been involved in blue penguin monitoring over many years, I was particularly pleased to see the progress on tracking blue penguins supported by the New Zealand Penguin Initiative. We have learned a great deal about the threats […]
After two years as Trust Chair, Reuben Lane has stepped down as both Chair and Trustee for the next year to focus on other projects and, at the recent AGM, Robin Long was elected as Chair. The Trust is very fortunate to have Robin taking on this role, bringing a great deal of field experience […]
We are looking for a part-time ranger, predominantly working in the Buller, mainly in the Charleston area. 20 hours pw on average. Applications close 5pm, Wednesday 8th September. Are you passionate about conservation and want to help protect penguins on the West Coast? We are seeking a dedicated, part-time ranger with backcountry fieldwork experience to […]
The Trust’s local tawaki rangers monitored nests at three sites in South Westland during the 2020 tawaki breeding season, Knight’s Point, Jackson Head West and Gorge River, to establish breeding success. Monitoring discontinued when chicks left the nest to creche. Crèche areas were checked for signs of predation. Many of these nests also had trail […]
A team from the West Coast Penguin Trust headed over to Oamaru in early May for the biennial penguin symposium, delayed from last year due to Covid. The event comprises nearly two days of presentations. This year, the first day focused on yellow-eyed penguins or hoiho as well as new research on tawaki, adélie penguins […]
During the update of our education resource, this question, often put to us by children, came up to be answered. Education Ranger, Lucy Waller read that a special protein found in the eyes of birds, ‘Cry4’ might detect blue light so they can see the magnetic field of the earth, but it is not known […]
Come and join us for an update on our projects and a talk entitled ‘World of Penguins’ from Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM. Postponed by a year due to lockdown, we hope that this evening of illustrated talks will not be affected by high alert levels. The talks will be at the Tai Poutini Polytechnic lecture theatre […]
Tawaki (Fiordland crested penguin) monitoring for the 2020 season found low stoat and rodent presence but some impact on breeding success due to stoat predation. Monitoring of breeding at tawaki nests occurred at the three sites with ten nests at each site being monitored by cameras and those and additional nests receiving a fortnightly visit. […]
South Island Penguins – Nature and Conservation Tours The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and the West Coast Penguin Trust, in association with Nature Quest, are presenting two trips for nature enthusiasts in September focused on penguins and penguin conservation. Nature Quest is a small nature tourism business, established in 1988. Group sizes will be small, a […]
Recently, we were invited to comment when DOC shared the sad story about the deaths of two tawaki, attributed to loose dogs at Jackson Bay/Jackson Head in South Westland. It was an opportunity to focus on the key messages for dogs in relation to penguins on the West Coast, particularly when speaking to National Radio. […]
