Fat penguin chick delights in Otago
New Zealand’s beleaguered tourism industry has found a new hero: a hefty penguin.
The overweight, 6-week-old little blue penguin is a bright spark for Dunedin’s tourism sector as it struggles with restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The unnamed chick weighs in at an impressive 1.52 kilograms and is the ‘‘biggest fluffster this breeding season’’, Blue Penguins Pukekura’s Sophie Barker said.
The average weight for a chick that age is 1.2kg, while adults weigh about 1kg.
(Chicks are larger than adults as they need more fat to grow feathers and need to be a good weight to fledge, learn to find food for themselves and survive.)
It was unknown if it was the fattest penguin chick ever found at the Otago Peninsula colony, but it was certainly a story people needed to read, Barker said.
‘‘It is lovely to hear the penguins are doing well because they have been in plight for such a long time.’’
Little blue penguins are the world’s smallest penguin species. The population is declining and the birds are classed as at risk by the Department of Conservation.
Many colonies are in decline due to predation by cats, dogs and ferrets. The species is also at risk of entanglement in set nets at sea.
Barker said the penguins had responded well to predator control and provision of nest boxes to provide safe nesting sites. The population at Blue Penguins Pukekura had a specialist penguin scientist to care for them, supported by the tourism dollar.
Barker said news of the penguin chick was welcome as people appreciated a break from anything coronavirus-related, ‘‘particularly in the tourism sector’’.
The Pukekura Trust, which was the country’s first private charitable conservation trust, also runs other peninsula-based attractions.
It was offering half-price deals this weekend as it was Otago Anniversary on Monday.
Only 50 people were allowed on the penguin platform at any time ‘‘so people have plenty of personal space’’, Barker said.
‘‘Penguin therapy is what people need right now.’’