Little blue penguin 'slaughter' prompts call for TDC dog control bylaw change

Cherie Sivignon13:24, Mar 13 2020

Dog attacks are a threat to the little blue penguin population in Golden Bay.

Little blue penguins are being slaughtered by dogs on the beaches of Golden Bay, Tasman District councillors have been told.

Mohua Blue Penguin Trust chairwoman Cynthia McConville on Thursday told councillors at a regulatory committee meeting in Murchison that the council's Dog Control Bylaw "doesn't actually control dogs".

"It fails to protect our penguins," McConville said during the public forum section of the meeting, urging an early review of the bylaw. "Dog attacks on kororā must stop."

The council's Dog Control Bylaw was last reviewed in 2014 and is next due for review in 2024. However, there have been several calls to bring that review forward. In August 2019, the Golden Bay Community Board recommended amendments to the bylaw be introduced early in the 2019-22 term of council.

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Likely-extinct bird sighted in Golden Bay

6:55 pm on 10 November 2018 

A bird that is supposedly extinct has reportedly been spotted in Golden Bay near the top of the South Island.

A tramper hiking on the Heaphy Track was looking for takahē in the bush within metres of the Gouland Downs Hut about a month ago and saw what he described as a large dark blue bird with orange under its beak.

The bird flew onto a branch, hopped along a couple of branches, then flew away.

It's thought to have been a South Island kōkako, known as "the grey ghost".

South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust member Ron Nilsson said that like all the half dozen or so sightings reported annually, this one would be taken seriously.

"There's probably a few birds there but not many. You know, how do you find them? It's a lot more difficult than you might imagine.

"But, every now and again, somebody hears one, somebody sees one."

The trust is offering a $10,000 reward for definitive photographic evidence of the South Island kōkako's existence.

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