Vicki Anderson 05:00, Oct 29 2018
Little blue penguins are starving
to death. The Kuaotunu Bird Rescue centre has had about 60 brought in, but only
three have survived.
Promiscuous penguins terrified of
water, harried harrier hawks, clumsy kererū and greedy kea owe their lives
to the growing cavalry of everyday Kiwis who are helping rehabilitate our
injured wildlife, writes VICKI ANDERSON.
Tubby, 21, is lying sprawled on his
bed with his new girlfriend.
For three days straight, his mate
next door, Nick Bond, with his distinctive swaggering walk, has been curled up
beside one of his four current love interests, only emerging to eat.
"Penguins have lots of
sexually transmitted diseases, they're very promiscuous," says Dianne
Hynes, head penguin keeper at the International Antarctic Centre in
Christchurch.
The centre is home to little
blue and white-flippered penguins, the latter a unique
"Canterbury only penguin" with a distinctive extra stripe
around its flipper.
"It's breeding season at the
moment," Hynes says. "So they're bonking away like crazy.
We don't breed them because we are a second chance welfare centre, but they are
still going for it."
Penguins have sex up to 50 times
a day and "poo constantly".
"Nick Bond is our most
handsome penguin. A surfer found him at Leithfield Beach," Hynes says.
"A shark got one of his feet and he has toes missing on his other foot so
when he walks he has got a bit of a swagger.
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