March to rehab for blue penguin
A blue penguin found hungry and dehydrated is being rehabilitated at Natureland.
The penguin was picked up in Marahau and handed into the Department of Conservation before being taken into care by the Tahunanui zoo.
Natureland keeper Lena Olley said he didn’t have any obvious signs of injuries but he was starving.
Weight and a pale colour in their mouth is a sign of dehydration.
‘‘We basically gave him some fluids and have been feeding him up.’’
Plans to release him back into the wild meant ensuring the bird had little contact with people and keeping him waterproof.
A penguin losing its waterresistance could be detrimental to its survival.
‘‘We get some seawater from the ocean and make a pool and we make sure we put him in there regularly.’’
Olley said she couldn’t be certain why the bird was found in poor condition but some reasons included food supply, ocean temperatures and disease.
The little blue penguin has been making himself at home in his enclosure.
‘‘He seems pretty happy.
‘‘The fact that he’s preening is a good sign because when birds are preening they’re usually doing pretty good,’’ Olley said.
‘‘They’re wanting to keep their feathers in good condition.’’
The birds are the world’s smallest penguins, standing just 25 to 30cm tall and weighing about one kilogram.
Olley said they were not endangered but were listed as being in decline.
Project Janszoon, an initiative to restore the ecology of the Abel Tasman National Park over a 30-year time frame, is currently surveying the area to get up-todate numbers of blue penguin.
Project volunteer Emily Jones said she had been checking burrows on the mainland and Fisherman Island.
‘‘There are lots of burrows and not a lot of birds. Maybe they’re not doing as well as we think they are [or] it might just be a bad year.’’
The blue penguin isn’t the only guest at Natureland.
The zoo has two paradise ducklings and a weka chick it’s raising to release back into the wild when the birds can survive independently.
The zoo is planning on releasing the penguin soon back to where it was found.
‘‘Like any bird that comes in we like to return it from where it came from.’’