Death of three penguins in Tasman Bay ‘incredibly sad’

A wildlife organisation in the South Island’s Tasman Bay is calling for dogs to be kept on leash at beaches where penguins nest, after several were found dead.

Tasman Bay Blue Penguin Trust’s Linda Jenkins said three little penguins were found dead at Little Kaiteriteri on Sunday afternoon.

Two of the penguins were a successful breeding pair and another juvenile penguin, thought to be one of their offspring.

A wildlife vet confirmed they died as a result of a dog attack.

“My first reaction, I was really frustrated and really angry because it is so preventable,” Jenkins said.

“Once I had sort of processed it a bit, I just felt so incredibly sad because we’d been monitoring these two penguins for three years and we know they are a great breeding pair and they work so hard to bring up their chicks.”

Since last October, there have been nine penguin fatalities in Little Kaiteriteri and the surrounding beaches due to dog attacks.

Beachgoers in Tasman were being urged to keep their dogs on a leash and under control following the deaths.

The three deaths follows news of another penguin, found mauled to death on Wellington’s south coast.

Forest & Bird – Places for Penguins received a message from a member of the public via DOC that had reported a deceased little blue penguin/kororā.

The kororā was taken to Wellington Zoo for a necropsy.

It was apart of a monitored microchipped population, with an estimated 100,000 left in the wild.

Forest & Bird committee member Brittany Florence-Bennett, who collected the kororā, said she was saddened to find an adult breeding female found dead.

“This female had produced two healthy chicks last season and is one of our most successful breeders so it is a huge loss to the already struggling kororā population,” she said.

Any injured or deceased native wildlife should be reported to the Department of Conservation via their hotline, 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).