Wellington’s newest internet sensation is a kororā chick that hatched in a monitored nest at NIWA’s Wellington base.
It’s the first time a chick at the Greta Point site, created by Places for Penguins and NIWA, has been captured on a web camera which was set up by the Urban Wildlife Trust earlier this year.
The livestream can be viewed by the public here.
Urban Wildlife Trust trustee Myfanwy Emeny told 1News while there are kororā “all around our coastline across the country”, their nocturnal nature means people “aren’t aware that they’re there and they don’t get to have this glimpse into their lives”.
“We really want people to be aware of them and just to fall in love with them like we have,” she said.
The chick, whose gender is unknown, is growing in size and the Trust is optimistic about its survival, as long as the parents can continue to successfully hunt for food for the chick and stay safe at sea, she said.
“Our chick has now got to a point that actually, it's strong enough that it's being left alone through the day and both parents are out there fishing and so it's got a pretty good chance.
“We watched when one parent came back after 10 days of the other parent sitting alone on the nest so that was a really, really nail-biting vital moment for us.”
The chick’s sibling didn’t survive.
The penguin parents snuggling together, the eggs being laid, incubation, the first appearances of the chicks, feeding and noisy reunions between the lifelong partners after returning from sea have all been captured on the camera.
The chick is expected to fledge in early January if it survives, which would see it leave the wooden nest box, walk through the underground tunnel connected to the nesting spot to the rocks next to the sea and dive into the ocean for a period of at least several months before returning to land.
NIWA seabird ecologist Dr David Thompson says it’s unclear what impact climate change is having on kororā at this point but warming sea temperatures are a concern.
He said there is some evidence that warming oceans have affected the distribution of some commercial fish stocks.
”There will be a whole range of responses to changes in marine climate if it carries on the way that it's going at the moment,” he said.
“It's hard to imagine all of those changes are going to result in positive outcomes for things like penguins - there will be negative effects for sure.”
The Trust hopes through engaging the public, more people will learn about the at-risk native species and what role they can play in helping its survival and advocating for protection.
“A lot of people who you might not consider traditional conservationists and teenagers, for example, are really engaged with this chick and watching it grow so that’s what gets me really excited,” Emeny said.
She said there are always between two and five people watching the live stream at any time.
“They actually flag things with us when we've missed it so lots of people are emailing in concerned ‘cause the parents haven’t been back or excited when they do come back, so they already feel really connected to this little guy.”
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