A series of poor breeding seasons for the endangered hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin) has spurred the Government, iwi and community organisations to launch a recovery strategy.
Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho/Yellow-eyed Penguin Recovery Strategy from Dunedin today, in an attempt to boost numbers. A fund of $220,000 over three years from Budget 2018 would also go toward conservation management of the hoiho.
"Hoiho are species unique to New Zealand that grace our $5 notes. Because hoiho occupy both land and sea, they’re exposed to an extensive range of threats, resulting in poor breeding and survival rates, they need all the support they can get."
The 2018/19 breeding season had the lowest number of breeding pairs since 1990, with about 400 birds needing specialist treatment or rehabilitation.
"Starvation and avian malaria were strong factors as well as unexplained deaths."
The Department of Conservation (DOC), Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and Fisheries New Zealand worked to develop the strategy, with an immediate focus "on the survival of individual hoiho to ensure we have a future population", Ms Sage said.
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