Little penguins in roll call for banded brothers

Katherine Danks
From: The Daily Telegraph
July 29, 2011

Banded for life: Taronga Zoo little penguins, have been name banded Source: Supplied

WITH brightly-coloured bands tied to their legs, these endangered little penguins are preparing for their daily roll call.

They are among 41 endangered little penguins involved in a successful breeding program at Taronga Zoo.
Little penguins are the smallest species of penguin, characterised by dark blue feathers on their backs, and are usually found on the coastlines of Australia and New Zealand.
Zoo staff use the coloured bands to identify individual penguins and keep track of their movements.
The penguin's name is marked off a list during breakfast each morning.
Aston - wearing the red and blue bands - was born at Taronga two years ago and is among the program's new generation.

Some come from a small colony in , whose existence is threatened by loss of habitat and local dogs.
Zoo keeper Jose Altuna said the colony was preparing for another breeding season, which starts from the age of two.
"There is a lot of information that has to be recorded for successful offspring," he said.
From next month, males will begin making their burrows with nest materials provided by zoo staff before females move in and choose a mate.

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Penguins take on Rocks Rd traffic

30/07/2011

Nelson woman Greta Baldwin is concerned for little blue penguins venturing on to Rocks Rd in the path of traffic.
She and her partner Stewart Knapman were driving along the waterfront at 7.20pm when they saw a man on his hands and knees by a car, and stopped, worried that he was hurt.
It turned out that he was trying to stop two penguins from crossing the road.
The penguins were under a car parked by Relish restaurant and the couple joined the effort to coax the birds back to sea.
Ms Baldwin manage to pick them up and take them down the ramp by the yacht club and put them in the water. She last saw them swimming away.
"I was concerned about their welfare – they would have been flattened if they crossed the road."
She tried calling various agencies to seek advice about the penguins and said the public needed to know they could call the Department of Conservation in an emergency on 0800 362 468.
A department spokesperson said the number could be used when wildlife was in danger.
Nelson City Council community projects manager Andrew Petheram confirmed there were penguin nesting boxes at the platform near Guytons and more would be incorporated into area being worked on by the yacht club. Penguins also nested under the club.
Forest and Bird regional field officer Debs Martin said the penguins came ashore every night. Its branch had not been involved in providing nesting boxes, because the jury was still out on whether it was a good place to encourage them.
- Nelson

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