Source: Radio New Zealand
Auckland Council says dog owners must be aware of the rules and read the signs at West Coast beaches to keep Kororā safe. RNZ/Jessica Hopkins
Lying on the rocks and left to die, with puncture wounds, exposed bones, and sometimes missing limbs.
According to conservationists, that is the state Little Penguins/Kororā are being found in on coastlines around the country, and irresponsible dog owners are to blame.
Auckland’s West Coast beaches were a particularly egregious hotspot for dog attacks on penguins.
Peter Hosking from Pest Free Piha said that earlier this year, five Piha penguins were killed by a dog in just one night.
“It was a shock. We only have a handful of birds nesting here. And to lose five in one night was a little short of a disaster,” Hosking said.
“It’s hard to say exactly how many [Kororā] there are at Piha, but it’s fewer than 15, so to lose five in one night is a big loss to the penguin community here.”
From late summer to autumn, penguins shed their old feathers to grow new ones, and they cannot return to sea during that time. It was then that most dog attacks happened.
Hosking said 13 adult Kororā had died at Piha this moulting season, nine of which were confirmed to have been attacked by dogs after post-mortem examination.
At North Piha, dogs were allowed to be off-leash. But Hosking said owners were letting their dogs run free in areas where they should not be, close to penguin habitats.
Auckland Council appointed a dog control ranger just for Auckland’s West Coast four years ago to enforce the rules.
But Hosking said it did not matter that people were compliant during the day if others allowed their dogs out at night, when penguins went wandering.
“Some of the attacks here have occurred at night, which is an indication that people are not keeping their dogs under control at that time. And of course, at night, it is less likely there will be dog patrols or people around to do anything about a dog that’s out of control,” he said.
“It’s pretty clear that it is dog owners, probably in North Piha, who allow their dogs to be out outdoors and off-leash at night, so we’re trying to educate all dog owners, but especially those people that they need to have their dogs under control at all times and at night in a kennel or inside their properties.”
Auckland Council says dog owners must be aware of the rules and read the signs at West Coast beaches to keep Kororā safe. RNZ/Jessica Hopkins
Dr Rashi Parker, from BirdCare Aotearoa, which treats sick or injured native birds, said two of the Kororā brought to them this moulting season were confirmed to have been attacked by dogs.
She said one was recently attacked at Anawhata, a West Coast beach where dogs are prohibited.
“There’s a continued concern from community groups involved with conservation initiatives along the West Coast that there are off-leash dog incidents often involving locals themselves. It’s not visitors coming into the area, it’s locals doing this.”
BirdCare had cared for five penguins confirmed to have been attacked by dogs in the past five years.
But BirdCare rehabilitation assistant Catriona Robersto suspected that 18 of the injured penguins brought to them this moulting season could also have been injured by dogs.
She warned that even small dogs could cause significant and often fatal injuries.
“Most people with a puppy at home will love to play tug of war with them, and it’s really cute in the setting of the home. But out in the world, they’re inherently going to pick up something that is, let’s face it, shaped like a cuddly toy, grab it and shake it. And we often see the sort of ragdoll injury in penguins that come into us,” Robersto said.
“Recently, we had a penguin that ended up with really bad neck torsion to the point where it couldn’t move normally at all because its neck was so stunted from having been shaken around. We had another case come through where that shaking behaviour had actually ended up causing huge lacerations.
“I’ve worked in a professional capacity with these birds for a while now, and I haven’t seen anything damage a bird that way, shy of a moving vehicle.”
She said it was heartbreaking to see Kororā that would have otherwise been healthy, had a dog not got to them.
“It’s poor dog ownership. Because it’s as simple as keeping them on a leash in an area that’s known to have penguins or suspected to have them,” Robersto said.
“All of us here at Bird Care feel like we’re screaming into the void because it is such a simple fix and those breeding adults are so vital to the survival of these species.”
Auckland Council Animal Management West team lead Clarke Trethowen said the West Coast Beach Patrol officer had issued seven infringements, three formal warnings, and a high volume of verbal warnings this moulting season.
He said they had received multiple reports of dead penguins, mainly on Piha beach, which appeared to have been attacked by an animal.
“Unfortunately, no evidence has been obtained to identify the dog responsible and allow for a prosecution.”
“The West Coast beaches have a diverse environment where many animals live, breed and visit. It is important that all dog owners are aware of the rules and read the signs before entering the beach to avoid enforcement action and to ensure our beaches can be shared safely by everyone.”
Melissa Mcluskie, from the New Zealand Penguin Initiative, said dog owners nationwide needed to be vigilant.
She said Auckland was not the only place where they were seeing a large number of attacks. They were also happening in Wellington, Kaikoura, Northland, and the Bay of Plenty.
“Penguins are very smelly and attractive to dogs and so they’re easy for dogs to locate. When dogs are off-leash, uncontrolled, or unsupervised, they could be going into penguins’ habitats, killing a bird and then walking away and the owners have no awareness whatsoever what happened.”
She said not all Kororā killed would be found or sent to a rehabilitation centre like BirdCare.
“The ones that are lucky enough to be rescued and go through the rehabilitation process are documented. But not all of those will be examined or sent off for a necropsy. Due to penguins’ dense feather plumage that covers their bodies, it’s not always obvious that they have been attacked or killed by a dog, so they do need to have a proper necropsy examination. And there are a lot of birds that have likely been attacked by dogs that we are unaware of,” Mcluskie said.
“Another issue is sometimes a bird that’s actually still alive may be put in the dunes or under some vegetation. That actually puts it at risk of being attacked by a dog that may go and walk through the dunes.”
As well as reporting attacked penguin sightings, she urged people to be alert for any penguins wandering on the beach during the daytime
.
“Healthy birds will be coming ashore at night time or they will be tucked away safely away in their burrows or nest boxes. So if you’re seeing a bird that’s out on the beach during the day, it’s not normal. It’s likely sick, injured or starving and it needs help.
“There is a number of community groups around the country that monitor their local colonies, and most of them are willing to rescue a bird and get it the right help that it needs.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
