On an organised trip to the Otago Peninsula, near Dunedin, we went to look at Yellow-eyed penguins coming to shore early in the evening. Yellow-eyed penguins (Maori name ‘Hoiho’) are a rare and endangered species of penguins native to New Zealand. I think they are absolutely amazing and unlike any other penguins I’d seen before. Their eyes are actually yellow, not just the stripe around their eyes. This particular penguin was actually quite far from shore. I used maximum magnification on my camera for this shot, so I wasn’t as close to the penguin as this photo might suggest (I kept my respectful distance as to not disturb them). 🙂
Have you ever seen a Yellow-eyed penguin?
Alive and Trekking 
Wonderful image 🙂 Penguins are fascinating birds, I think. I’ve never come across the Yellow-eyed Penguin before – do they have a protected habitat area in New Zealand?
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Thank you! 🙂 I think penguins are fascinating too and I think they are very cute! Yellow-eyed penguins only live in New Zealand. I’m not sure they have a protected habitat area. I’ve seen them in a few places on the South Island. One area was public, but you had to pass through private land to get there, so visitors can be restricted. In Curio Bay there are rangers from the Department of Conservation every day around the time the penguins come to shore. They monitor the public and make sure people aren’t getting too close. Kiwis really value their native wildlife and make an effort to protect it. I love that!
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Oh it is good to hear that some countries still take a protective interest in their natural wildlife! … there are many of us in the UK who care deeply about our native flora and fauna but sadly our government only see anything in terms of money!
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Yes, they love their native wildlife. Introduced species, not so much, because they often destroy native flora and fauna. Deer, possums, stoats and ferrets are not exactly wanted. From my perspective, being from a country with not a crazy lot of wildlife/sense of nature, it was tough at first. Now, I can also see it from a New Zealand perspective and I understand they want to protect their unique native ecosystems. And NZ’s nature is incredible! 🙂
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We’ve seen a bit of that here in the UK. We used to see lots of grey squirrels in the woods near us until a couple of years ago, then they were all eradicated. Grey squirrels had been an introduced species but unfortunately they were also carrying a virus that was killing off our native red squirrels. 😦 It does seem a drastic solution but, as you say, introduced species can cause a lot of damage to native species. I think it is so important to protect species in their native habitats as far as we possibly can.
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That is quite sad. I don’t claim to know everything about managing wildlife, I have learnt that perspectives can change depending on where you are. I think it’s important too to protect our wildlife, now we have something to enjoy.
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Penguins? Never seen one. Didn’t even know they can live without some ice around.
By the way, great pics, San. You surely love nature as you said. Your pics say so.
Can’t wait when they’ll show how much you love travelling, then you might hear me barking again. Cheers! 🙂
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Thank you! Yep, absolutely love nature! Surely going to keep travelling, photographing and blogging! 🙂
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