Penguin dead in suspected dog attack

A little blue penguin found dead at Dummy Bay, near Kaiteriteri in Tasman District, brings to seven the total number killed in suspected dog attacks this year on the beaches around the popular spot.

‘‘Postmortem findings point towards another dog attack case,’’ said wildlife veterinarian Mana Stratton. ‘‘ A terrible waste that should not have occurred.’’

A dog needed to be out of its owner’s sight for a few seconds only, and it could kill a penguin without the owner’s knowledge.

‘‘It just needs to dart behind a grass clump or sand mound and in a matter of seconds can pick up, shake and drop the penguin,’’ Stratton said. ‘‘The shake is sufficient to cause fatal internal injuries with no obvious external injuries.’’

Little blues, officially called little penguins or kororā, are the smallest penguins in the world. They weigh about a kilogram and are less than 30 centimetres tall.

The Department of Conservation lists the status of these native seabirds as ‘‘At Risk – Declining’’. Their population and range has been declining in areas not protected from predators where once they were common.

Stratton said owners should not

‘‘Owners need to have their dog on a lead in wildlife habitat areas.’’ Mana Stratton,

assume their dog was on the scent of a rabbit. ‘‘A penguin burrow is just as appealing, so owners need to have their dog on a lead in wildlife habitat areas.’’

Linda Jenkins, of Love Our Little Blues, said the penguins were in the middle of their breeding season.

‘‘Sadly, in this case, it is most likely that the penguin was one of a pair caring for chicks,’’ Jenkins said. ‘‘It takes both parents to provide food for chicks.

That remaining adult would stay on the nest, waiting for its mate to return until, on the point of starvation, it had to return to the sea to survive.

‘‘The chicks will starve to death,’’ Jenkins said. ‘‘One dog attack leads to a family being wiped out.’’

Dummy Bay was becoming increasingly popular with dog owners. However, it was ‘‘prime penguin habitat’’ so uncontrolled dogs could easily cause tragedy.

‘‘With encroaching residential development and influx of summer

wildlife veterinarian

visitors, life for little blues/kororā is getting really tough around the popular beaches.’’

The death of the penguin at Dummy Bay this month comes after another case in late October at nearby Breaker Bay. Jenkins said the tally of little blue fatalities this year on the beaches around Kaiteriteri because of suspected dog attacks now totalled seven, four of which had been confirmed by a vet.

Over Tākaka Hill in Golden Bay, Mohua Blue Penguin Trust chairwoman Cynthia McConville said a ‘‘huge education programme’’ was needed for dog owners about the importance of keeping their dogs on a lead in areas where there were kororā and shorebirds.

‘‘If they are nesting in coastal vegetation, they’re extremely vulnerable.’’

The last report of a dog attack on a little blue penguin in Golden Bay was mid-year.

‘‘This is a species that is in decline,’’ McConville said. ‘‘Every penguin counts, every single one.’’