Pupils pitch in for penguins

Pupils pitch in for penguins

By MATT RILKOFF - Taranaki Daily News
09/09/2009

Puketapu pupils are rightly proud of their penguin protection efforts.

A class of young conservationists at the Bell Block school have taken it upon themselves to ensure the survival of the little blue penguins that come ashore in their area.

Together with the New Plymouth District Council, Cleland's Construction and the Department of Conservation, they have set up homes for the little birds and traps for the rats that prey on their chicks.

DOC community relations ranger Mike Tapp says projects such as Puketapu's penguin protection embody the "get involved" theme of the coming Conservation Week.

"Just to get them involved is good because if they have a bit of input they have ownership of the whole project and will come down here and check the traps and the penguin boxes are OK and let us know if they are not.

"It really helps with their learning if they are doing something real," he said.

Micaela Watt, 10, had learnt that penguins don't actually live at sea, rather on land. "There are not that many left and we want to save them," she said.

Tylar Adams, 10, said penguins could live up to 1.6 kilometres inland from the coast.

"We built these homes so the cats don't get them, or the rats," he said.

Kiana Walker, 9, had learnt they come in all sizes from pint to pitcher and beyond.

"The penguin I saw was black and had sort of yellowish eyes," she said.

Harley Reid, 10, said cats, dogs and rats ate penguins because they were too stupid to find other food.

"I have seen the eyes of a penguin at Urenui. My friend from school has a bach there and sometimes they go underneath it, so I saw one out there. It was dead though," he said.

Conservation Week starts in Taranaki on Saturday with a spruce-up of the Mangorei track from 8am and on Sunday there is the Big Family Day Out at Ngamotu Beach.

* More events are planned for the weekend and throughout the week. Information on these can be found at www.conservationweek.org.nz

Source:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2846134/Pupils-pitch-in-for-penguins