Image: Bernard Spragg. NZ
Zoologists hope Bird of the Year status results in better protection for hoiho
University of Otago scientists want the government to revise its controversial management plan for the hoiho, the endangered New Zealand penguin that was voted 2019 Bird of the Year in a national poll.
Phil Seddon, director of the university’s wildlife management programme, has called for more research and better conservation measures to protect the penguins.
The mainland population has declined from around 600 nests in the 1990s to 225 nests in 2018. This year, surveys have revealed the number of has dropped to 162.
“Our research indicates that the decline in mainland hoiho is not attributable to climate change alone,” he said in a university statement.
“Management of regional issues including fisheries bycatch, benthic disturbance in areas where hoiho forage at sea, and sedimentation are completely within the government’s power to regulate.”
Seddon suggested that agencies involved in conservation management of the penguins “need to abandon the lost hope that the ongoing population decline is a temporary glitch”.
“This is clearly not some unfortunate and unmanageable consequence of unexpected weather conditions. There are things we can manage, but we need to take action now,” he said.
The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, received more than 12,000 votes in the Bird of the Year competition, narrowly beating the kākāpō, a large flightless ground parrot. It is the first time that a seabird has won the poll since it was started 14 years ago by NZ conservation organisation Forest and Bird.
Seddon and Otago zoologist Yolanda van Heezik are hoping the win will boost research and improve conservation management plans for the hoiho.
They say a recent management plan drafted by the Department of Conservation and Ngāi Tahu – the southern Māori iwi or community – in association with the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and Ministry of Primary Industries, has been widely criticised in public submissions. Complaints include the exclusion of relevant scientists and a lack of measurable outcomes for hoiho conservation.
“The recent draft management plan does not go far enough. We can make bold changes now; we don’t need to gather more data. We urgently need targeted management actions, guided by science, to prevent the imminent extinction of the mainland population of hoiho,” van Heezik said.