Dog owners warned after penguin deaths

A volunteer looking after penguins in the Lyall Bay/Island Bay area of Wellington’s South Coast has a clear message for dog owners – “keep your dog on a lead at all times”.

There have been four kororā/ little penguin deaths in the last two weeks in on-lead areas, two confirmed as dog attacks and two likely to have been caused by dogs.

Shannon Ritter said there were no excuses for dog owners as there were plenty of signs and the area was well known to have a kororā population.

Kororā were highly attractive to dogs and she said a dog could attack one without the owner having any idea of what had happened.

“Kororā are only 30cm tall and are fishy, stinky chew balls for a dog,” she said.

Fifty to 60 birds in nesting boxes were being monitored by volunteers, but there was also an unknown number of kororā living in nooks amongst the rocks.

Dog attacks weren’t the only threat, Ritter said.

“They are facing predation and loss of food and habitat. We all have to be more responsible.”

The volunteers planned to speak to the Wellington City Council to have more signs installed but ultimately, she said, dog owners had to be more responsible.

Owners liked to think their dogs would not attack but the reality was all dogs not on a lead posed a danger.

One of the kororā killed was a chick from Island Bay that was probably trying to find somewhere to breed.

A post from the volunteers on Instragram said another was killed a metre from the safety of its burrow in the rock wall at Lyall Bay.

“The necropsy done by The Nest/Te Kohanga revealed two puncture wounds and a severed spine – a clear dog attack,” the post said.

Forest and Bird regional conservation manager Amelia Geary said dog owners had to do better.

“These are breeding animals killed by dogs, due to the negligence of their owners.”

The Department of Conservation lists kororā as “at risk and declining“with dogs posing a major threat.

“Dogs are likely the greatest threat to little penguin. Cats, ferrets and stoats will also kill them.

“These threats have increased with more coastal development bringing more dogs and the clearance of traditional nesting sites.”