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Hoiho appear on our five-dollar note and are one of the rarest penguins in the world with only 143 known nests on mainland New Zealand including Stewart Island/Rakiura. Without a serious turnaround, scientists predict hoiho could become locally extinct on the mainland within two decades.
Seasonal (2024/25) nest counts across coastal Otago, Southland, and Rakiura show numbers are substantially down compared to previous years, with an ongoing decline of 80 per cent since 2008/09.
Nest numbers are only part of the picture, the higher concern is there are currently less than 100 yellow-eyed penguin chicks on Stewart Island and mainland New Zealand, and of these there is no guarantee of their long-term survival.
As long-lived seabirds, hoiho have a low reproductive rate and low juvenile survival. Of the chicks that will shortly fledge, it is expected that less than 20 per cent of these individuals will survive to adulthood.
Declining mainland hoiho numbers point to multiple threats including disease, introduced predators, human disturbance, a significant shift in adult diet, fisheries bycatch, and marine predation.
“Work to save this taonga species includes predator control, monitoring nests, disease and injury treatment, starvation interventions and planting of native vegetation to restore hoiho habitat,” says DOC Southern South Island director of operations Aaron Fleming.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu hoiho recovery representative Puawai Swindells-Wallace has visited nesting sites from Waitaha down to Rakiura and seen first-hand the hard mahi conservation rangers and volunteers are doing to try to save this species from extinction.
“We have some really good people on the ground, but with such a large range to cover, it is extremely challenging,” says Puawai.
“Hoiho are a taonga species for Ngāi Tahu and it is unthinkable that we could lose them – we don’t really know what impact that could have on the whole ecosystem.
“We need to collectively increase our capacity to support the hoiho to regain their rightful place on our beaches and in our moana.”
They were coined ‘the people’s penguin’ and won the Bird of The Year competition in 2019 and 2024, but recent mainland hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin nest counts have experts worried.
The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust recently appointed Anna Campbell to lead the organisation, with a focus on innovation to accelerate restoration of coastal ecosystems.
“Nest and chick numbers are critically low on mainland New Zealand,” says Anna. “Now is the time to come together, be bold and brave – collaborating can enhance our potential to protect the hoiho.
“We are committed to a future where hoiho thrive in the natural environment.”
The Hoiho Governance Group includes DOC, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Ngāi Tahu, and Fisheries New Zealand, working together to implement Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho – a strategy for pulling hoiho back from the brink of extinction.
