#Penguin of the Day

 

Northern rockhopper penguin by Rainer Menes

#Penguins of the Day

 

Juvenile Emperor Penguins by Michael Shepard

Dallas Zoo penguins surprisingly cool with warm winter

News 8's Sebastian Robertson spent a day with the penguins on a warm winter day. 

Sebastian Robertson , WFAA

January 30, 2016

(Photo: WFAA)

DALLAS – It's was a workday in December, but the Dallas Zoo looked like summer Friday.
"I think their zookeeper is coming with their food," said a young child, as he watched the elephants with mom, Becca Eby.
"I think they just adapt, and they're out here soaking up the sunshine, too," Eby said.
Taking the main stage — as they usually do during the winter months — are the penguins.
"They have a lot of personality, that's what endears people to penguins," said Sean Greene, the vice president of guest experiences at the Dallas Zoo.
The appropriately named Penguin Cove drew plenty of eager eyes, thanks to the sun and $5 admission.

Penguin Cove was a popular stop at the Dallas Zoo Friday. (Photo: WFAA)

Temperatures are expected to soar this weekend, hitting the mid-70s; that's a good twenty degrees above normal.
While the dramatic change in weather may give you or I whiplash, Greene said the tiny birds are extremely resilient to change.
"What's remarkable about this is that the majority of the penguins around the world are actually warm weather penguins," Greene added.
Back stage, we get an up-close look. These birds aren't found in the Arctic, but Africa — specifically South Africa and Namibia.
"These are amazing animals. They can withstands different temperature changes [and] dive down 100 feet into the ocean to catch fish," Greene said.

Sean Greene (Photo: WFAA)

The animals are cool with the unpredictable Dallas weather, but they do need your help in other areas.
"When people come through the gate, $0.25 of their admission fund is going to help animals like the black-footed penguins," Greene said.
At one point, according to Greene, more than a million of these birds waddled the earth. Today, that number is closer to 40,000.
That means that each visit they get from the public, sunshine or not, helps make sure penguin habitats — at the zoo and around the world — stays full for years to come.

One of the Dallas Zoo's penguins. (Photo: WFAA)


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Nero the fluffy penguin prepares for his awkward phase (video)

Rotund young bird stands out from the rest of the colony, but he's about to undergo some serious changes

CBC News Posted: Jan 30, 2016 
 

The Calgary's Zoo five-month-old penguin, Nero, will have to wait until he's three to lose his fluffy fur. (Ayesha Clough/CBC)

Two parents watching over an awkward child with weight issues that's still living with them isn't really news. Unless the child in question is a king penguin.
Nero is, well, different than the adult penguins in his life. While mom, dad and the rest of the colony are decked out in their finest black and whites, the only child is big, fluffy and brown.
Did we mention big?
"He's five months, a little over five months, and he weighs around 15 and a half kilos, which means he is the heaviest bird in our colony," said Malu Celli, a curator at the Calgary Zoo. "He's heavier than his mom, who's quite a big, chunky penguin too, and he still has some growing to do."
The size is essentially a form of insurance for young penguins.
"It's like they know they'll have to figure out how to swim and catch fish and they're not going to be very good from the start, so they'll pile up the pounds in preparation for that and they'll lose a lot of weight," said Celli, who adds Nero could lose 20 to 30 per cent of his body weight.
Nero also has the squeaky voice of a developing youngster.
"He doesn't sound at all like the adults, which are quite regal and they have a very clear trumpeting sound. He has a very whistley, like little bird sound," Celli said.

Awkwaaaard

Nero the fluffy penguin at the Calgary Zoo

And while he's pretty cute at the moment, looking like a hair blowout gone awry — with his brown feathers puffing out around his already impressive girth — he's about to hit a serious awkward phase.
"Like other penguins, they sort of molt all in one go, but we will be able to see patches missing, or patches of brown fluff when he's half black-and-white and half brown. It's going to look quite bizarre for a while," Celli said.
His brown fluff is not waterproof like the black-and-white getup he'll soon sport, which will allow him to get in the water and learn to be a proper penguin.
In the wild, the process of growing up would be faster, with the parents abandoning the child and forcing it to learn or die.
"Whereas here, he can always pester a little bit more and maybe get a free meal here and there," Celli said. Nero is expected to go through his changes any time over the next three months.

Nero, the first king penguin chick born at the Calgary Zoo, stands out with his fluffy appearance. (Ayesha Clough/CBC)

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This Week's Pencognito!

Please be sure to visit Jen and all the Pengies by clicking this link!

#Penguin of the Day

 

Galápagos penguin on lava rock cliff by Joe Marx

Why some penguin feathers never freeze

These birds could inspire new ways to keep ice off of airplane wings

By Andrew Grant

January 28, 2016

Gentoo penguins live in Antarctica. New research reveals that oil and tiny pores prevent water from freezing on the feathers of these birds. CHRISTOPHER MICHEL/FLICKR

 

Penguins in Antarctica survive in some rough conditions. Temperatures can reach -40° Celsius (-40° Fahrenheit). Winds can blow as fast as 40 meters per second (89 miles per hour). A drenched penguin waddling in such bone-chilling air would seem like a recipe for frozen feathers. Yet the birds don’t become popsicles. That’s because tiny grooves and an oily sheath on the feathers prevent some penguins from freezing, a new study finds.

Pirouz Kavehpour is a mechanical engineer at the University of California in Los Angeles. He and his colleagues studied feathers from gentoo penguins, an Antarctic species, under a scanning electron microscope. The jagged surface of the feathers was full of nano-sized pores. This subtle roughness forces water droplets to slide off rather than stay and freeze. The penguins also release preen oil from a gland near the base of the tail. A bird will use its beak to spread the oil over its feathers. That oil works as a water-repellent.

The Magellanic penguin lives in South America, in warmer climates than the gentoo. It has no pores on its feathers, the researchers found. And it secretes a less-repellant oil. Kavehpour reported his team’s new findings November 22 at the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in Boston, Mass.

Ice build-up on penguin wings may not be a big deal for most people. But icing on the wings of an airplane can bring down a craft. So Kavehpour hopes to exploit the birds’ deicing ways to design airplane wings that won’t ice up.

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#Penguin of the Day

 

Little blue penguin of Dunedin, NZ by beyondhue

‘Penguin Palooza’ underway at the Akron Zoo

January 27, 2016, by Darcie Loreno

AKRON, Ohio -- It's a 'Penguin Palooza' at the Akron Zoo!
To celebrate, Fox 8's Kenny Crumpton was at the zoo today to learn more about the event, and he even met some of the other animals who live there.
Twelve penguins live in the penguin exhibit -- 10 of them are adults.
Penguin Palooza is happening at the Akron Zoo this weekend. Visitors, on a limited basis, can feed the penguins fish as part of the fun.
There will be free hot chocolate and crafts, and there are three different feeding times: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
For more information on the event, click here. 

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African Penguin Born in Conservation Program at Indiana Zoo

By Katrina Rossos

Jan 26, 2016 

 

A new, rare African penguin was recently born at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, in Indiana. It is a breed thought to have declined by 60 percent over the last 30 years on its native continent. (Photo : Fort Wayne Children's Zoo)

 

A new bundle of joy just arrived at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, in Indiana, and it's a girl! While the endangered African penguin, Echo, was born a few weeks ago at the zoo, her gender was revealed just days ago.

That's because it was a mystery. Male and female penguins look identical, so the little black-and-white one's gender was discovered by a blood test and announced on Jan. 20, Penguin Awareness Day.

The 8-week-old penguin is the offspring of two other Fort Wayne Children's Zoo penguins, Flash and Chunk--both of whom were also born and raised at the zoo.

According to an official release, Flash and Chunk have a strong bond and exclusively raised Echo for the first several weeks of her life by feeding her regurgitated fish. After that, the zookeepers began hand-feeding Echo so that she would learn to accept fish from handlers in the future.

Echo is the first African penguin born at the zoo since 2012. Also, because the African penguin, or Spheniscus demersus, has been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered since 2010, Echo will serve as an ambassador to bring awareness to the species.

The African penguin is the only breeding penguin on the continent, residing primarily in southern Africa. Their population has been in a swift decline over the past six years as a result of commercial fisheries leading to depleted fish stocks, oil spills, and changes in prey populations, according to the IUCN. And the species has declined over 60 percent in the past 30 years. There is no sign that this trend will reverse, so conservation action is urgent.

Luckily, African penguins are known to return to the same breeding grounds every year and all breeding areas in South Africa are protected within a national park or nature reserve, according to ARKive.org.

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo participates in the Penguin Species Survival Plan, a cooperative breeding program conducted by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums working to manage the populations of these endangered species within zoos.

"The zoo supports conservation of wild penguin populations as well," Dr. Joe Smith, director of animal programs at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, said in an official statement.  "We financially support [the South-African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds], an organization in South Africa that conserves coastal birds in their native habitat."

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Cyclone proving tough for penguins

Wednesday 27 Jan, 2016 | By Zoe Hunter 

The large swell from tropical Cyclone Victor is proving dangerous for not only people, but the little blue penguins too.

Mauao Area Wildlife Trust's Julia Graham says there have been a few penguins washed ashore in the large waves recently, including a fledgling found washed up on Mount Main Beach yesterday in a bad state.


The fledgling penguin washed ashore yesterday.

A post on Mauao Area Wildlife Trust's Facebook page reads: “adult penguins find these rough oceans difficult, but for lots of new fledgling penguin babies, these waves are a killer. This morning's little baby washed up on the main beach very thin and unable to feed itself”.

A member of the public found the baby penguin, which was looked after by Mauao Area Wildlife Trust summer ambassadors Jassalyn Bradbury and Sophie Graham who kept the penguin safe until it was taken to ARRC Wildlife Trust vets for treatment and feeding.

“The little penguin will be kept until it reaches a desirable weight and the ocean has calmed down, then it will be released back into the wild,” reads the Facebook post.

Julia says rough waves and ocean make it very hard for an adult penguin to hunt and feed in those conditions, and more serious for a fledgling.

“Because of the rough oceans, there's going to be penguins washing up all up and down our coastlines.

“If it is night time it's best to just leave them because they're going to try and come out of the water at night to have a rest.

“If it's during the day, once again, it's a natural thing. It is a cyclone that's doing this. However, if they feel that the penguin is at risk from people or dogs, they can ring 0800 SICKPENGUIN.”

Access to the Mauao Base Track was closed earlier today due to the significant swell making it unsafe conditions for people to walk around the Mount.

Moturiki Island, known as Leisure Island, was also being assessed for dangerous conditions.
The Tauranga City Council advises people to be aware of trip hazards on the base track today, as the big wave action stripped away up to 150mm of the track surface in some areas.

Contractors will work on the affected parts of the track today, with resurfacing scheduled for next week.

If you see a penguin in trouble, contact 0800 SICKPENGUIN (0800 742573 FREE).

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First king penguin born at Calgary Zoo grows to over 30 pounds

By Gil Tucker Reporter  Global News

 
WATCH ABOVE: A big attraction of a completely different kind is getting a lot of attention at the Calgary Zoo. Here’s Gil Tucker with a cute new arrival who really stands out from the crowd.

It was just five months ago that “Nero” became the first king penguin to hatch at the Calgary Zoo.
Now, after a steady diet of regurgitated fish from his mom and dad, Nero has grown to be the biggest penguin in the colony.
His latest weekly weigh-in shows him tipping the scales at almost 16 kilograms, or 35 pounds.
“It’s just amazing, we had never seen anything like it before,” zoo visitor Lesley-Ann Wilkinson said. “Furry, like a wooly mammoth.”
Along with his distinctive brown “baby feathers”, his stature has made Nero a big hit with the crowds.
“We’ve seen him since he was a chick, so we’ve loved watching him grow,” Krista Steinke, a regular zoo visitor, said.

“We think it’s funny that he’s two-and-a-half pounds bigger than my three-and-a-half year old.”

It’s normal for fast-growing chicks like Nero to surpass the weight of adult king penguins.
He’ll probably slim down a bit as he starts eating his own fish over the next few months, and by the summer his “baby feathers” will probably be gone.

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#Penguins of the Day

 

King Penguins, Salisbury Plain, South Georgia by tclemitson

Five emperor penguins make debut for visitors in National Forest Park, China

 

Photo taken on Jan. 26, 2016 shows emperor penguins in Jingyue Snow World in Jingyuetan National Forest Park in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. Five emperor penguins from Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park in northeast China's Liaoning Province made their debut for visitors in Changchun Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)

 Visitors look at emperor penguins in Jingyue Snow World in Jingyuetan National Forest Park in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 26, 2016. Five emperor penguins from Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park in northeast China's Liaoning Province made their debut for visitors in Changchun Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)

  

Visitors look at emperor penguins in Jingyue Snow World in Jingyuetan National Forest Park in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 26, 2016. Five emperor penguins from Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park in northeast China's Liaoning Province made their debut for visitors in Changchun Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)

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Staff member feeds molting emperor penguins at a polar ocean park in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 26, 2016.(Xinhua/Pu Feng)

Photo taken on Jan. 26, 2016 shows molting emperor penguins at a polar ocean park in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 26, 2016.(Xinhua/Pu Feng)

 

People take photos of molting emperor penguins at a polar ocean park in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 26, 2016.(Xinhua/Pu Feng)

Photo taken on Jan. 26, 2016 shows molting emperor penguins eat fish at a polar ocean park in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 26, 2016.(Xinhua/Pu Feng)

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KC Zoo creates contest to name female penguin chick

January 26, 2016, 

by Stephanie Graflage

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Zoo recently opened a contest to the public to name a female Gentoo penguin chick.
The contest opened to the public on Saturday. Each person is allowed one entry. All entries must be submitted by Feb. 29, 2016.
Kansas City Zoo staff will narrow the list to five, and the public will then vote on the winning name.
The winner will get to have their picture taken inside of the penguin exhibit and a penguin-themed gift.

Click here to enter

 

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#Penguins of the Day

 

Jackass penguin - Boulders Beach - South Africa by bart coessens

#Penguins of the Day

 

Feeding The Chick by Baron Reznik

Hamilton teacher goes penguin monitoring in the Auckland Islands

LIBBY WILSON

January 25 2016

JO RAPLEY/SUPPLIED

"Just about whatever's there is amazing" said Jeremy Tizard of the subantarctic Auckland Islands. A royal albatross is pictured flying over his head.

Walking on uninhabited islands at 4am and coming face-to-face with boisterous sea lions are part of daily life on the subantarctic Auckland Islands, a Hamilton science teacher has discovered.

Jeremy Tizard spent two weeks in the Auckland Islands in November, helping with a Department of Conservation yellow-eyed penguin monitoring project.

The Auckland Islands are New Zealand's largest group of subantarctic islands, situated about 460km south of Fiordland.

The Hamilton Boys' High School teacher spent mornings watching for and counting the penguins through binoculars.

His first encounter with some of the local wildlife came when he helped unload gear for some passengers who were staying on the islands.

IAN TURNBULL/SUPPLIED

A yellow-eyed penguin came within 1m of Hamilton teacher Jeremy Tizard while he was monitoring them on the Auckland Islands.

"I hear someone say, oh, there's a cheeky one, talking about a sea lion," Tizard said.

"Straight away these things are in your face, they're coming right up to you - like a young teenager with attitude that wants to have a tussle, sort of thing.

"You're not supposed to look at them because that's like a challenge. But it's quite a big animal coming pretty close."

JEREMY TIZARD/SUPPLIED

 

Sea lions in the Auckland Islands were "like a young teenager with attitude wanting a tussle", said teacher Jeremy Tizard.

Tizard said it was an "incredible place" for an adventure.

"For me it filled up the tank again and again and again, and just with inspiration and education and all the rest," he said.

The trip started with a thorough quarantine check in Invercargill where boots were sterilised and "everybody's gear got checked for any seeds in your socks or anything like that".

The group then took the yacht Evohe to the islands, a 31-hour trip.

Tizard spent much of his time at the islands watching for yellow-eyed penguins, which he described as cute but cautious.

"They're just cute. They're hilarious little things... You might watch [the penguins] for hours just standing on the edge or working their way down a rock shelf. They might look for half an hour or they might look for a lot longer," he said.

Yellow-eyed penguins are among the rarest penguins in the world and can grow up to 65cm, he said, and he got within a metre of one of the birds on watch.

"You go on a wonderful adventure, hopping in a zodiac [boat] to head out to start your morning count on whatever island, or sometimes counting from the boat. Strong winds and you could see snow sprinkled on the hilltops around you at times."

Tizard's biggest penguin count in a single session was 11 birds, on Enderby Island.

Counts there tended to be higher because cats, pigs and mice had been eradicated, unlike on Auckland Island, Tizard said.

Some days he might see just three penguins between 5.30am and 9am - after which he would head back to the Evohe for a hot chocolate.

Seeing four types of albatross up close fascinated Tizard, as he remembered seeing one in a museum as a child.

On the islands he got close enough to see the feather patterns of a royal albatross through binoculars and witnessed the courtship of the light-mantled sooty albatross, which was "like stunt gliding".

Tizard also picked up knowledge from two geologists on the trip, and hopes to share his experiences with students in 2016.

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Teacher uses Skype to educate students about the penguins of Antarctica

A refreshing use case for Skype in the classroom

Laurent Giret

Jan 25, 2016

Microsoft bought Skype a few years ago, since then the company has been pushing hard to make it bigger than a basic video and messaging app. While Microsoft continues to explore various use cases in business and education, a teacher working in Antarctica has been using Skype in classrooms to connect to pupils all over the world.

Jean Pennycook, a science teacher from California, has been going to Antarctica since 1999 to study the impact of climate change on penguin colonies. While she was among our furry little friends, she has been doing daily Skype calls to schools around the world to educate children about climate change, reaching about 8 000 students just between November and January.

Pennycook further explains: “I love sharing this fabulous place and these amazing birds with people. Very few people will ever get a chance to come to Antarctica, and it is a place that needs to be saved and preserved. If people do not know about it, they will not feel a connection to it. The penguins especially will need our protection as the ice changes due to climate change, and more and more fisheries take their food source.”

Skype enables Pennycook to share a little bit of her daily life and work in Antarctica, while allowing the curious children to have a closer look at their animal friends. As expected, her Skype sessions lead to interesting conversations: “Some think I am in a zoo, others think I am on a movie set. Many do not know where Antarctica is, so are amazed when they find out I am really here. They are interested in all the clothes I wear, what we eat and how we live”, she explained.

The adventurous science teacher also wanted to add fun and creativity to the experience, and created the Design a Flag for the Field Station program: pupils could take part by sending their flag designs to the Antarctic base, so penguins could have a look at them. Cute!

Pennycook’s initiative really seems to have been pleasing learning experience for all the participants. Ms. Rosenstein, whose class from Ardsley, New York, had the opportunity to get a private tour of the penguin colony, received a hearty thank you note from the parent of one of her pupils.

I can’t thank you enough for your amazing teaching skills and incredible approach, through Skype, to teach and engage the kids about geography. My son was so passionate and excited about his call to Antarctica. He told me about the temperature, the science work that is taking place there, the teams of people, the penguins – he got to see the Penguins!!, the fact that there was no electricity, but Jean Pennycook was on a tablet, etc. That night, we both went to bed smiling. He was smiling because he learned something so different and so exciting, and not only that, he got to SEE it, and know it’s not just words in a book”.

It’s fascinating to see Skype, a service often to derided for various issues, taking part in shaping the classroom of the future. In fact, Microsoft has a whole Education section up on its website which features different virtual classrooms experience around the globe .

By the way, if you like penguins, and want to know more about Pennycook’s work in Antarctica, don’t hesitate to check her work on her website!

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Single penguin worries he’ll never find love as friends all couple up -lolol

Jen Mills for Metro.co.uk 

Monday 25 Jan 2016

Don’t worry penguin, it will happen for you someday (Picture: Caters)

Could we all take a moment to connect with this lonely penguin, who feels like all he sees is couples. 

On the cliffs. In the water. Lying on the ice, cuddling up… everywhere. It’s like he’s the only single penguin in the whole Antarctic.

:(

Wildlife photographer David Merron spotted the lonely gentoo penguin in Paradise Harbour, looking over at the two loved-up crabeater seals like the definition of ‘third wheel.’

‘I’m happy for you. I really am.’ (Picture: Caters)

He was just a few feet away, but so far in spirit from their happy moment that he soon hopped back off the ice floe and back into the ocean.

Penguins famously mate for life, but there’s no girlfriend in sight for this would-be monogomous bird.

Don’t worry penguin. You’ll find someone. You’ll be rock bearing and snuggling up in no time.

So single (Picture: Caters)

 

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#Penguins of the Day

 

Magellanic Penguins by Michele Vascellari

Penguin Chick Gets Hatching Help

January 24, 2016

 Sometimes baby animals need a little help, and that’s exactly what an about-to-hatch African Penguin received at Poland’s Zoo Wroclaw on December 28.

 

 


Photo Credit:  Zoo Wroclaw

The Penguin chick, named Janush by keepers, was positioned abnormally inside his egg.  With his head underneath his wing, Janush was unable to turn and push his way out of the egg.  To assist the little chick, keepers removed the egg from the nest and gently extricated Janush from the shell.

Once they knew the tiny chick was stable, keepers tried to place Janush back in the nest with his parents.  Unfortunately, mom and dad were tending another chick that had hatched earlier in the day.  Penguin parents can be quite aggressive when defending their chicks, and keepers were unable to place Janush back in the nest.

So, keepers took over as Janush’s parents during the first critical days of his life.  Because the chick was still absorbing nutrients from his yolk sac, there was no need to feed him right away, but controlling the temperature was important.  Janush moved to a well-ventilated incubator where he could stay warm.

The next day, keepers began feeding Janush a “milk shake” made from chopped fish and vitamins via a syringe.  Fortunately Janush has a good appetite and doubled his weight in the first week.  He feeds four times a day, and at night he snuggles beside a plush toy in his incubator.  In the morning Janush greets his keepers with loud squeaks to let them know he’s hungry.

In the wild, African Penguins are native to South Africa’s coast and nearby islands.  Because people have harvested so many fish from these waters, there is little left to sustain the Penguin population and the species is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.  Oil spills have affected the population, and guano mining disturbs nesting sites.  Breeding programs in zoos around the world are an important part of efforts to save African Penguins.

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#Penguin of the Day

 

King's Parade by Mark Dumont

#Penguin caught in flounder net at Timaru's Caroline Bay fuels net ban call

JACK MONTGOMERIE

January 24 2016

JOHN BISSET/FAIRFAX NZ

 

A little penguin, or korora, at Caroline Bay in Timaru.

Rescuing a penguin caught in a flounder net at Timaru's Caroline Bay has convinced a volunteer the birds need protection.
A squawking little penguin, or korora, had to be rescued on Friday night from a net which was too close to its colony by Marine Parade, Timaru Penguins coordinator Peter Bennett says.
The penguins began spontaneously nesting on the rocks by the road several years ago. Bennett, who coordinates the volunteer wildlife group, believes without a ban on fishing with nets by the rocks at night, the colony risks destruction.

JOHN BISSET/FAIRFAX NZ

 

Timaru Penguins coordinator Petter Bennett says a penguin was caught in a flounder net on Friday night and restrictions about the nets' use near the colony are needed.

"We're killing them, basically."

The penguin was about 30 metres from the rocks when one of its flippers, one of its legs and its neck became entangled in the net about 9.45pm, Bennett said on Saturday.
The penguin squawked and struggled until he and others at the scene freed it.
"It had a few wee wobbles but luckily another one came in at the same time and she followed that one in."

He said the people who had set the net were also upset they had unintentionally caught the penguin.
Bennett said dozens of tourists and locals came nightly to see the little  penguins. He said visitors who had come to watch the penguins on Friday were "not very impressed" by the incident.

However, he did not believe those who set the net had broken any rules. Bennett believed prohibiting net fishing near the rocks was necessary to ensure the penguins' safety in future.
"They've got to swim in and they swim in after dark."

Little penguins usually rest and feed between January and July. The penguins forage for food up to 25 kilometres offshore.
The Department of Conservation's website warns dogs and other introduced predators are the greatest threat to little penguins, but cars and set nets also kill some of them.
Bennett was not sure which Government department had the authority to impose such a ban, but he intended to take the matter further.

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This Week's Pencognito!

Please be sure to visit Jen and all the Pengies by clicking this link!