The world's rarest penguin could be about to become extinct

Tourism New Zealand/AP
Alexandra Richards28 November 2017

Conservationists are concerned that commercial fishing will wipe out the world’s rarest penguin.

The yellow-eyed penguin is native to New Zealand’s South Island and sub Antarctic islands and even features on the country’s $5 note, however in some parts, the penguin has disappeared altogether.

In 2000 there were nearly 7,000 penguins recorded in New Zealand, however, recent reports revealed that there are now approximately 1,600 to 1,800 left in the wild.

A recent survey of the island sanctuary of Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) conducted by conservation staff, found that half of the yellow-eyed penguin population had vanished in that area.

Kevin Hague, Chief executive for Forest & Bird, a leading independent conservation organisation, said that nearly half of the yellow-eyed penguins on Codfish Island had gone missing at sea.

“Unlike previous years where disease and high temperatures caused deaths on land, this year birds have disappeared at sea," he said.

Mr Hague said that evidence pointed to commercial fish trawlers as being responsible for the drop in penguin numbers.

“There is an active set net fishery within the penguins’ Whenua Hou foraging ground, and the indications are that nearly half the Whenua Hou hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin) population has been drowned in one or more of these nets,” he said.

In the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust’s preliminary survey on the birds, figures revealed that the amount of nests on the Whenua Hou island had fallen from 24 to 14 in a single year.

It revealed that nest counts have been steadily declining year on year with a sharp decrease recorded in 2017.

Sue Murray, general manager of the Yellow Eyed Trust told the Guardian that every effort was being made to save the birds by conservation groups.

However, she said that the birds faced threats from various dangers such as dogs, disease and climate change.

Speaking to the Otago Daily Times, Thomas Mattern, one of the leading researchers of the rare bird at University of Otago said: "Quite frankly, the yellow-eyed penguins, in my professional opinion, are on their way out."

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