Yellow-eyed penguins are the most endangered penguin species in the world, with just 4,000 left in the wild . Found only in New Zealand and...
Yellow-eyed penguins are the most endangered penguin species in the world, with just 4,000 left in the wild. Found only in New Zealand and its outlying islands, these birds can grow up to 79cm tall and weigh 8.5kg, which is similar to a one-year-old child. They’re easily identified by the pale-yellow band of feathers that extends from their eyes and around the backs of their heads.
Their shrill calls during the mating season earned them their local name Hoiho, which means “noise shouter” in Māori. Yellow-eyed penguins are great divers and mostly catch their food – small fish, molluscs and crustaceans – from the seabed. Unlike most of their kin, yellow-eyed penguins are not very social and often nest away from other penguins.
These withdrawn breeding pairs have been in sharp decline for the last two decades, especially on islands to the north of their distribution where the population has declined by 65%. The primary cause is outbreaks of diphtheria-like infections that are particularly fatal to young chicks between one and 28 days old. The mouth and tongue of infected chicks are covered by a thick membrane, pus and ulcers that stop them from eating. The infection can spread to the entire body, resulting in sepsis.
Even when treated with a combination of antibiotics,...
