February 2010

27 February 2010
Beach use leading to low penguin weights
(New Zealand)
A combination of high public pressure and 'dangerously low' yellow-eyed penguin weights is a pattern being seen on more Otago coastal sites, the Department of Conservation says.
Read Otago Daily Times article

26 February 2010
Vast Antarctic iceberg 'threatens marine life'
(Antarctica)
A vast iceberg that broke off eastern Antarctic earlier this month could disrupt marine life in the region, scientists have warned. They say the iceberg, which is 78km long and up to 39km wide, could have consequences for the area’s colonies of emperor penguins.
Read BBC News article

23 February 2010
Penguin Tica dies at aquarium
(USA)
Tica, the first known penguin being aggressively treated for cancer, died at the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky earlier this month, but the skin cancer was not what led to the 16-year-old chinstrap penguin's demise. Aquarium officials say they had to be euthanised after he could no longer eat, stand or swim because of a degenerative spinal disease.
Read Cincinnati.Com article
Read earlier Penguin News summary

20 February 2010
Back to the wild after a stay in hospital
(New Zealand)
A yellow-eyed penguin who was bitten on the leg by a barracuda three weeks ago has been successfully treated at the Penguin Place hospital and released back to its home on the Natures Wonders property on the Otago Peninsula. As the penguin was moulting, it was treated with manuka honey cream instead of antibiotics, and its wound healed well.
Read Otago Daily Times article

19 February 2010
Penguins in Antarctica to be replaced by jellyfish due to global warming
(Antarctica)
Rising temperatures in the oceans around Antarctica could lead to the continent’s penguins being replaced by jellyfish, British Antarctic Survey scientists have warned. The results of the largest ever survey of Antarctic marine life reveal melting sea ice is decimating krill populations, which form an integral part of penguins’ diets. The krill are being replaced by smaller crustaceans known as copepods – the ideal prey for jellyfish and other tentacled predators.
Read Telegraph article

16 February 2010
Carers to fight penguin tour plan
(Australia)
A proposal to run dusk tours of the little penguin colony at London Bridge in the Port Campbell National Park has raised the concern of local wildlife carers. After attending a recent Parks Victoria workshop on the proposal, one wildlife carer said, "I think there are a lot of people who will oppose this. We will fight this vigorously."
Read The Warrnambool Standard article

Council 'destroys' penguin habitat
(New Zealand)
Clearance work at Oamaru Harbour has destroyed habitat for blue penguins, leaving up to 30 homeless, but the Waitaki District Council says it has done everything to ensure none of the birds were harmed.
Read Otago Daily Times article

11 February 2010
New home for penguins
(Australia)
Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre owners John Ayliffe and Jenny Clapson have begun work to create a new AU$40,000 little penguin habitat. They received approval for the works in 2007 and, with the help of the Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board, recently secured a grant of $13,000 from the Australian Government’s Envirofund to help establish the new colony.
Read The Islander article

10 February 2010
Penguin future looking perkier with marine zone: study
(South Africa)
A ban on fishing around St Croix Island in Algoa Bay, home to a colony of threatened African penguins, has brought swift benefits to the beleaguered birds, say marine biologists from France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The study, published in the British Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, provides the first evidence about how quickly a threatened species can rebound when it is given a little help.
Read AFP article
Read CNRS press release

Vets work to heal penguin
(New Zealand)
Massey University wildlife veterinarians in Palmerston North are working hard to heal an Otago Peninsula yellow-eyed penguin attacked by a shark.
Read Otago Daily News article

Rare penguin recovering
(New Zealand)
A rare Fiordland crested penguin found with an injured leg on a West Coast beach is recuperating at the Penguin Place hospital on the Otago Peninsula.
Read Otago Daily News article

9 February 2010
Happy, healthy sea bird chicks raised by same-sex parents
(New Zealand)
A pair of male yellow-eyed penguins at Penguin Place conservation reserve on the Otago Peninsula have successfully hatched and raised two chicks after the eggs were abandoned by their mother.
Read The Dominion Post article at Stuff.co.nz

Notorious penguin Harry survives infection
(USA)
Harry the Magellanic penguin has convalesced enough for him and his partner Linda to rejoin the rest of San Francisco Zoo's colony. Harry still has the fungal infection aspergillosis, but his zookeeper said that it is now under control and not impeding his life.
Read San Francisco Examiner article
Read earlier Penguin News summary

8 February 2010
Widowed penguin wooed by two suitors
(UK)
As Valentine’s Day approaches, anxious staff at Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre are watching for signs of sibling rivalry in the penguin love stakes. The newest arrival in the centre’s Humboldt penguin colony is nine-year-old Rosie, a widow of nine months who is looking for new love…and has two handsome young penguins – brothers Ringo and Boomer – to choose from.
Read Great Yarmouth Mercury article

6 February 2010
Penguins starved to death, tests show
(New Zealand)
The deaths of dozens of little blue penguins who washed up on the beaches of the North Island's west coast last month have been attributed to starvation. DOC biodiversity threats ranger Garry Hickman said the birds showed “no sign of disease or trauma” and there remained some mystery over what had caused them to starve.
Read Waikato Times article at Stuff.co.nz
Read earlier Penguin News summary

5 February 2010
New concern for penguins
(Australia)
Richard Hewitt, chairperson of the Fairlight Precinct Committee in Manly, New South Wales, has raised concerns for local little penguins with the opening of the Manly Pavillion on the harbour. He is worried smokers will use the promenade and that the penguins' nesting sites nearby will be affected by cigarette butts thrown into the harbour or flicked behind the pavilion.
Read The Manly Daily article

KI penguins die after 'rescue'
(Australia)
Two little penguin chicks have died after they were seized by a government officer from the Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre in South Australia.
Read The Independent Weekly article
Read earlier Penguin News summary

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