News

A strain of bird flu has been spreading since 2014 and has been disastrous for both poultry and other birds in the US and Europe during 2022.  It has now reached pelicans in Peru and penguins in Africa.  

A highly infectious strain of bird flu has been spreading since 2014 and has been disastrous for both poultry and other birds in the US and Europe during 2022.  It has now reached pelicans in Peru and penguins in Africa.  It could reach NZ via migratory birds. Biosecurity NZ will work closely with the Department of Conservation to manage any outbreak of the disease. Prof Brett Gartrell, wildlife vet at Massey University, was interviewed by Kim Hill on the RNZ Saturday programme on 3 December and you can read more and listen to the interview here.

The approach in the northern hemisphere has been to kill every infected bird, with a focus on the poultry industry.  All those in an area a few kilometres across when an infection is found are killed to try to stop the disease spreading.  That would not work in New Zealand where some native birds exist only in small rare locations, for example the fairy tern / tara iti or the Westland petrel / taiko. In addition, signs at beaches in Europe have warned beach goers over summer to report any sign of sick birds, and not to touch sick or dead birds.  Risk to humans is low, but a risk remains. Migratory birds have already arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand for the summer so it's important to be sharing this information. The key message is not to touch sick or dead birds but to report them to the DOC hotline 0800 DOC Hot (362 468) and or the Biosecurity NZ Exotic Pest and Disease Hotline 0800 80 99 66.

         

Chair Robin and Trustee Suzanne meet the Minister of Conservation

Trustee Suzanne Hills reports on her meeting with Hon Poto Williams: "In October the Hon Poto Williams, Minister of Conservation, visited the West Coast and the Trust was fortunate to be granted a meeting. Our chair Robin Long and trustee Suzanne Hills attended. As the last meeting of her busy schedule we were allocated half an hour but managed to cover all the key points we wished to convey and time left for a photo too. We discussed the breadth and depth of the Trust’s work and how it directly contributes to Te Mana o te Taiao | the Aotearoa NZ Biodiversity Strategy - the key piece of work needed to halt and reverse NZ's biodiversity crisis. The Minister was impressed with the Trust’s practical projects of penguin fences, nest boxes and ramp cutting. We presented her with our Kororā education booklet and she praised the focus on education and the wider benefits it brings in fostering a care for nature. We took the opportunity to reinforce our messages on the West Coast stewardship land review. The key one being the need for coastal land classifications that enable the protection of seabird values not just recreational ones. The dangers of uncontrolled dogs on beaches followed on from this and we discussed the better alignment needed between councils, DOC and the Trust to achieve shared outcomes. And as no meeting between a Trust and a government Minister is complete without mentioning funding, we expressed our appreciation of the DOC community fund. We explained its importance as a baseline and how we triple its value through contributions from other organisations and generous individual donors like yourselves. The meeting gave the Minister a good overview of our work and commitment to our vision of seabirds and their habitats are healthy and thriving. We hope before long the Minister will return to the Coast and we may have an opportunity to show her the Trust’s penguin fence as well as our research projects or educational programmes in action."

Five kororā little blue penguins have died in as many months in Nelson Tasman thanks to dog attacks on beaches, and weka have been injured.
The Department of Conservation is calling for dog owners to keep their pets under control to protect kororā during their breeding season, after the latest attack killed a parent looking after two chicks.

Five kororā, little blue penguins, have died in as many months in Nelson Tasman following dog attacks on beaches, and weka have also been injured. The Department of Conservation is calling for dog owners to keep their pets under control to protect kororā during their breeding season, after the latest attack killed a parent looking after two chicks. Read the article here. The survivors from a little blue kororā penguin family, after one adult was killed by dog attack. The two chicks would be unlikely to survive with a solo parent, so all three are being fed in captivity until they are able to be released into the wild.

Kawatiri Coastal Trail catches up with Inger about the new sections of the trail and what we need to know about penguins.

 

  The Kawatiri Coastal Trail is a Grade 2, family friendly cycling and walking heritage trail and will connect the Buller District towns of Westport and Charleston. By November, it is anticipated the Kawatiri Coastal Trail will see the first four consecutive Sections open to users, offering 23km of continuous Trail. They caught up with Manager Inger Perkins from the West Coast Penguin Trust to talk about her work with the Trail, the penguins, threats to colonies, and what the public can do to help. Read the interview here: https://kawatiricoastaltrail.co.nz/west-coast-penguin-trust/

Mena, currently the only penguin detection conservation dog in the South Island, and her handler Alastair Judkins from K.O.R.I (Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute), joined the West Coast Penguin Trust once again this September, for two weeks, to survey penguin nesting sites for us and they very kindly agreed to visit some schools with me too, on their way up the Coast.

Mena, currently the only penguin detection conservation dog in the South Island, and her handler Alastair Judkins from K.O.R.I (Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute), joined the West Coast Penguin Trust once again this September, for two weeks, to survey penguin nesting sites for us. They also took the time to visit some lucky schools with me too. We are sorry we couldn't make it to all the schools unfortunately, but we hope in the future, we will make it to those who missed out. Mena and Alistair scoured the coastlines, forests and river mouths all up the West Coast trying to sniff out penguin sites for us. The West Coast Penguin Trust would like to confirm the penguin presence in certain areas and ideally an indication of numbers if possible too. This included Wanganui River area in Hari Hari, north of Hokitika, Barrytown and Punakaiki area and along the penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki, Charleston area, Westport, Carters Beach, Tauranga Bay/Cape Foulwind and Granity. We carry out the Great Annual Blue Penguin Count each year in October, where any members of the public, schools, local communities can join in counting and noting tracks and observations for us. We also monitor certain sites ourselves with observations and burrow scoping. However, what takes us hours to do, Mena takes minutes often. She knows, when her muzzle is on, that she’s on duty.  She’ll seek out a whiff of penguin and then track it down. When she has found the source, she’ll sit down and await further instructions. Alastair will get her to sit and stay on a small blanket while he investigates further and records the finding. Knowing where penguins are nesting is invaluable when development is planned and we are also keen to have a measure of penguins protected by the penguin fences we currently have in Hokitika and Punakaiki, which we are confident are increasing in number, but doing surveys like this will give us greater certainty. We are also lucky enough to be able to take Alastair and Mena into some schools we have worked with to show the students what she does and how she is very useful to the Trust. Alastair, Mena and I visited many schools on our way up the Coast, giving presentations and demonstrations for the students and staff of Mena’s amazing skills, detecting penguins and signalling to Alistair. Many of these students have been spending their time learning about penguins and how to help protect them, so this is a wonderful treat for them. For some students, and staff in fact, this was the highlight of their year! A huge thank you to Mena and Alastair for all their hard work for us and to Jodi Weir-Judkins from K.O.R.I for her support in making this happen. And good luck to Alastair for the training of Kowhai, his next stoat detection dog and his next penguin dog – we look forward to meeting them when they have passed their exams. Another big thank you to Pub Charity for supporting the education component of this project. Pub Charity have supported other trust education projects including the development and printing of our education resource book, both first and second edition. The schools get such a boost from Mena and Alistair's visit and so do we in sharing this experience, and we reached around 1200 pupils and 90 staff at 11 schools between Harihari and Granity on this trip - a superb effort. A personal thank you from me for all Alastair's hard work and patience! And to Pub Charity for the funding to allow it to happen. It really brings the education programme to life when we get to experience exciting events like this. Lucy Waller, Education Ranger      

 

 

 

Whitebait season has arrived.

Whitebait season is a much loved season here on the West Coast and throughout New Zealand. Families enjoy their old traditions of getting out to favourite spots to spend time with family, friends, or some much needed alone time and to hope for a lucky catch. It is unfortunately also the penguin season too - that crucial time of egg laying, new chicks hatching and parents frantically going in and out of the sea bringing food for their offspring. It is a busy time at the beach currently, where penguins, humans, cars, and dogs all have to co-exist as best we can. We wish you luck with your whitebaiting. Here are some useful tips to keep our penguins safe at the same time: - If you have to drive on the beach or coast roads, please try to avoid the period dawn to dusk or drive extra slowly as our little 30 cm high friends could be crossing - please watch out for them. - Dogs are humans' best friends, but it's sadly not the same for penguins. Unfortunately they are still the main threat to our penguins after vehicles. Please do your part and keep your furry best friends in your sight and under close control when you are out on the beach and estuary areas - penguins can travel up rivers for a kilometre or so. If possible, please keep  your dog out of the sand dunes and bushes/vegetation at the back - this is penguin nesting zone. - Everyone believes that their dogs couldn't possibly kill a penguin, but a penguin is simply a fluffy chew toy to a dog, they are intending no harm most of the time. We have all seen a loving, gentle, family dog with a new chew toy for Christmas - little penguins don't look much different. - If you see a penguin trying to come home and he looks disturbed by your presence, please let him by without disturbance so he can go feed his chicks. Many thanks for your consideration and we hope you have a great season! Who knows you may be lucky enough to experience a penguin sighting whilst catching a net full! Take a look at DOC's Wildlife Wise Dogs programme here for some of their helpful hints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weWk_E0uOlM

The 2021/22 year has been one of change and loss for the trust, but also of productivity and hope for the future.

The 2021/22 year has been one of change and loss for the trust, but also of productivity and hope for the future. Trust Chair, Robin Long, introduces the annual report and explained: "Overshadowing all of our work throughout the year, our inspiration, guide, scientist, and Chair for most of the Trust’s existence, Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, battled cancer and sadly died at the end of March.  She had bounced back remarkably well to attend our February meeting, and achieved her long held ambition to write and publish the acclaimed New Zealand Seabirds: A Natural History in October, also managing to do interviews as it was launched. "The loss to the trust and to seabird conservation in Australasia is immense. "But Kerry-Jayne has left a powerful legacy.  Thanks to her guidance, the trust’s work has always been solidly grounded in scientific knowledge and not assumption.  Our vision is that threatened seabirds and their habitats thrive and we will continue to strive towards achieving that in her memory." Follow the link below to read the full report, including summaries of the trust's various projects and programmes of work and our appreciation for all those who help and support us. 2022 West Coast Penguin Trust Annual Report  

Take a moment to act for nature this Conservation Week 5th - 11th September

Conservation Week 2022 focuses on how we can take action for nature. Taking action not only benefits nature, but also our personal wellbeing. Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata – when the land is well, the people are well. When Papatūānuku thrives, we thrive. There are many events you can attend, locally and New Zealand wide and activities you can do at home and in your local community to support this week. Take a look at the DOC website to get some ideas. Local ideas: Count some tracks on the beach for our West Coast Annual Blue Penguin Count Attend the Carters Beach market and planting day on Saturday 10th September

Education Ranger, Lucy, joined forces with Sustainable Coastlines Coordinator, Emma Hunter, visiting local Hokitika primary schools.

Ranger, Linden, reports on two exciting new tools for monitoring kororā.

Ranger, Linden, reports on two exciting new tools for monitoring kororā: Building on our foundation of 16 years of monitoring breeding success at two Charleston little penguin/ kororā colonies, this year we have two exciting new tools to further our knowledge of kororā breeding, foraging, and in the long-term, population demography. Firstly, two new handheld microchip readers allow us to learn so much more about the penguins. For example, we’ll see which penguins are occupying which nest boxes, whether couples are staying together from year to year and which chicks return to the colony. These readings can be done with little disturbance to the penguins. We are hugely grateful to The Trusts Community Foundation for a grant to purchase the readers, and to Farm Source Methven for doing us a fabulous deal including arranging the donation of protective rigid wand reader carriers from the manufacturer, Gallagher. Many thanks to all three.

Secondly, the installation of a fixed microchip reader at the entrance/exit of one of the colonies will tell us all the comings and goings of kororā. We are very fortunate that at this colony all of the kororā enter and exit the colony via a single narrow path, which makes it an ideal spot to place a microchip reader. This reader records the number of every microchipped penguin which passes through it. In turn, this will give us valuable information about how long penguins are ashore and at sea for, which should vary depending on the stage of the breeding season, such as incubating eggs, as now, or raising chicks. In addition, over the long term we will be able to see how many chicks return to breed, which in turn will give us a better idea of the overall population trends of kororā. We’re grateful to Little Totara Electrical for kindly donating cable and some time to help set this up, and we’d like to acknowledge the specialist skills of the maker of this complex bit of kit, Kean Maizels of Kean Electronics Pty over in Australia. On top of that, we’d like to thank our very generous Supporters and other donors. The fixed reader was a big investment for the trust, and one we could not have made without your superb support and generosity. Thank you.