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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Catherine reports the latest on Gorge River Tawaki this season so far: “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 the creek […]
Photos have emerged of fences blocking penguins from Shelly Bay – the site developer Ian Cassels bought under the condition he looked after the kororā that nested there. Cassels has long planned a $500 million development at the former Air Force base at Shelly Bay, on the western fringe of the Miramar peninsula, but it […]
“Take a moment to act for nature” for Conservation Week 12th – 17th September Buller have had a tough year this year, with all the flooding, crazy weather and living with a seemingly never-ending pandemic. To lift the spirits of their community, the Buller District Department of Conservation Office has decided to host a Conservation […]
Rūma Piwakawaka year 2 class create their very own classroom penguin habitat. Having spent the year learning about penguins using the Penguins and Other Seabirds resource book, they were ready for their own colony! We will all meet in Term 4 for a planting day at the beach to help create more habitat for […]
We’re delighted to report that the Trust has been successful in its bid for funding from DOC’s Community Conservation Partnerships Fund! […]
At last night’s 4th West Coast Leading Light Business Excellence Awards, MC’d by TV One’s Peter Williams, the Trust was very proud to be named winner in both its categories. […]
