22 May 2012

Penguin blues

21/12/2011 9:41:00 a.m.

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PENGUINS residing along the Miramar Peninsula have had a particularly time recently.
Storms, lack of food and predators have taken a toll on numbers, but thanks to Forest and Bird’s Places for Penguins programme, 15 chicks have hatched in the past year and there is hope for the future survival of the birds.
Since 2007 Places for Penguins have been setting up nesting boxes in an attempt to address the decline in numbers and habitat. Coordinator Jenny Lynch says last summer another 130 boxes were placed around the Miramar Peninsular from Island Bay to Scorching Bay, the boxes hidden in grass and with small entrances to keep out predators such as dogs and rodents. This summer volunteers plan to monitor nesting birds.
Lynch says she’s confident the programme will slowly see penguin numbers increase, but admits the birds are battling against climate change for survival.
“Starvation has been the main culprit for the decline. In the past couple of years the water temperature has gone up because of climate change, and the fish that they feed on live in colder temperatures. We’re lucky in Wellington, because we have colder currents. It’s more of a problem further north where the temperatures are warmer.”
However, Lynch says the weather has impacted on the birds.
“We had a few storms in the past year which wasn’t good in terms of survival. It can make them quite weak, they don’t get enough food or they get knocked around a bit,” she says.
As well as on the Miramar Peninsular Places for Penguins operates in Oamaru and and it’s hoped a similar programme will be developed in Waitakere. Funding for the Wellington programme has come from the Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council and Wellington Zoo.
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Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Briefs

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