Stewart Island – P1 nest search results

The first phase of field work for the fifth and final season of the Trust’s Stewart Island project was completed by early November, with searches for nests on the Bravo group, Codfish Island and the Anglem coast of Stewart Island carried out by Trust staff, DOC staff, and volunteers. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost an Island Conference Proceedings

You can also download the conference proceedings and biographies of the speakers by clicking here (pdf 400kb)

Friday 12 October 2007

Conference Opening

Opening speakers were Tahu Potiki (Chairperson of Te Runanga O Otakou), the Hon Damien O’Connor (Minister of Tourism), Peter Chin (Mayor of Dunedin), Anton Oliver (Patron, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust), and Euan Kennedy (Founding Trustee, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust). Read the rest of this entry »

Trust Nursery wins Supreme Award

Margaret and Anita with their trophy!

The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust Nursery was announced the Supreme Award winner at the Trust Power Dunedin Community Awards ceremony in Dunedin on 3rd September 2007. The Trust received $1500 and the opportunity to represent the city at the 2007 Trust Power National Community Awards in Wanaka in March next year. The trust beat 76 other groups nominated for the awards.

Our Nursery Co-Manager Anita Pillai said, “It was very humbling to win the award – a complete surprise and it was a huge thrill for all the Trust’s volunteers.” The nursery produced more than 10,000 plants last year to sow around the coast on private and Trust land”.

We think it was well deserved too.

WWF-NZ chooses Trust

The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust was chosen to be part of a WWF-New Zealand report on the social and economic benefits of community conservation projects, released 6 August to mark the start of Conservation Week. Findings from three community-led programmes showed that the simple act of planting a tree or trapping a possum creates a virtuous circle in local economies.

Read the rest of this entry »

Almost an Island Conference programme

Please note that speakers/times are subject to change.

Title: ‘Almost an Island – Valuing Otago Peninsula’

Is biodiversity conservation paying it’s way?: The social and economic benefits of conserving nature on Otago Peninsula.

Registration

Closing date for registrations is 30 September 2007. Click here to download a registration form

THURSDAY 11TH OCTOBER

Otago Peninsula tour (optional ½ day tour, 12:30 – 4:30 pm) NUMBERS PERMITTING.
Spend half a day with trustees/staff from the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust on a guided tour around the Otago Peninsula seeing Trust sites, including a visit to their plant nursery. Cost includes transport and refreshments.
Price to be notified, so please do not include money until confirmed whether this will go ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost an Island Conference biographies

Peter Dann

Peter Dann has worked as a wildlife ecologist for 25 years and published extensively on seabirds and shorebirds in Australasia. He has co-edited, with Ian Norman and Pauline Reilly, a book entitled The Penguins: ecology and management (1995) and is currently at Cambridge University working on a second book on penguins. He manages a research group,  specialising in penguin and seal biology particularly in relation to tourism on Phillip Island in southern Victoria. Phillip Island is famous for its ‘penguin parade which 500,000 visitors come each year to see the arrival of little penguins at Summerland Beach at sunset. It is also home to the second-largest Australian fur seal colony in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost an Island Conference invite

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust.

We warmly invite past, present and future supporters to participate in a long weekend of celebration, reflection, and looking ahead to the next twenty years. The four days from Thursday 11 October to Sunday 14 October will include public events, lectures, open days and a conference focusing on the Otago Peninsula.

The main event is our conference – Almost an Island: Valuing Otago Peninsula. The conference, scheduled for 12th – 13th October, will be opened by the Hon. Damien O’Connor, Minister of Tourism, in association with Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin, and our Patron, Anton Oliver.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blood parasite kills last penguin chick

A blood parasite has claimed the life of Big Fluffy, the sole survivor of 32 yellow-eyed penguin chicks hatched in the monitoring area on the north-west coast of Stewart Island.

Fluffy before his death

The 109-day-old chick was found dead on February 28, just metres from his nest site, by Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust southern islands projects officer Sandy King. “This is devastating. Big Fluffy was just days away from venturing out to sea and to find him dead was a complete bombshell,” Ms King said.

The chick, last seen alive on February 19, was fully feathered, of a good weight, and had plenty of fat reserves, making his chances of survival during the initial period at sea above average.

The carcass was rushed to Massey University where a post mortem examination confirmed that Big Fluffy was killed by a blood parasite. Read the rest of this entry »