Bird of the Year: Kelly Tarlton's penguins back their cousin the hoiho

Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Voting is back underway for New Zealand's most hotly-contested annual election.

An annual contest for the most beloved native bird has sent an Auckland-based flock of penguins into a flap.

Forest & Bird has run the Bird of the Year competition, in which Kiwis vote for their favourite native bird, for the past 14 years. Voting for 2019 opened on Monday.

SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium on Tamaki Drive is backing the hoiho this year.

Photos taken by staff at the east Auckland aquarium show the king and gentoo penguin residents casting their ballots for their hoiho cousin at 'NZ Avian Electoral Commission' polling booths.

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The native New Zealand hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, is one of the most endangered penguin species in the world.

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The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, is one of the most endangered penguin species in the world.

King and gentoo penguins at Auckland's SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium strategise for Team Hoiho.

There are only about 1700 mating pairs left in New Zealand.

Kelly Tarlton's penguin keeper Amy Wardrop said the entire organisation would be voting for the hoiho and she hoped its endorsement would help the campaign take off and 'soar to new heights'.

Like the penguin characters in the animated movie Madagascar, Kelly Tarlton's penguin colony appears to be aiming for world domination.

Mel Young, co-manager of the Team Hoiho campaign, said hoiho populations were declining due to unregulated ecotourism, uncontrolled dogs, other introduced predator like stoats and ferrets, and climate change.

The aim of the Team Hoiho campaign was to raise awareness and educate the public about the species' 'population crisis'.

'We are calling for individuals and communities to show support for hoiho wherever possible, which could include taking regulated tours, responsible dog ownership and other sustainability initiatives,' Young said.

Kelly Tarlton's is not the first business to publicly back a species for Bird of the Year.

Otago Museum, the University of Otago zoology department, The Chills and Dunedin mayor Dave Cull have also joined Team Hoiho.

On Monday, Auckland Museum launched a campaign for the critically endangered spotted shag, which is found only in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

In 2018, native wood pigeon the kererū was crowned Bird of the Year after a landslide victory which saw the species get 5833 votes.