Little Blue Penguins at ARRC Wildlife Trust 

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Little Blue Penguins at ARRC Wildlife Trust 

Little blue penguins are delightful characters and are the world’s smallest penguin. Along our Tauranga coast they are often seen through the spring and summer months.
Little blue penguins generally come ashore at night and live in holes or burrows but if they are sick or moulting, they may be seen on land during the day.

Sadly, many of these lovely little birds are attacked by dogs and suffer severe injuries. ARRC receives a number of these each year, and we do our best to help them. Holistic Vets provides veterinary care for our wildlife and thankfully with their broad range of additional vet services,
in addition to surgery and normal medications, they have a hyperbaric oxygen chamber (HBOT) and use therapies like acupuncture and homeopathy, many of these birds can be helped.

This penguin was found on the beach unable to move. We found that its legs were paralysed and began medication to help.
After three days with no apparent improvement, we started treated with HBOT. After the first treatment, its right leg started to move, and after the second treatment, both legs were moving! The penguin was then placed at a rehabilitation centre where it had the opportunity to exercise in a pool where it continued to make progress.

What you can do to help our penguins:
  • Keep your dog under control at all times near beaches as they are a threat to the penguins.
  • Keep an eye out when driving on coastal roads as penguins also cross the roads, especially at dusk and dawn.
  • If you see a scruffy looking penguin without an injury, don’t disturb it as they are just moulting.
  • Support sustainable fishing so that our fish supplies are plentiful for our wildlife and us.

    Read more about little blue penguins that we treat at ARRC in “Pipi Gets Pawed”, one of our ten books that is part of the ARRC Kids Adventure Series to educate children about man’s impact on our natural heritage and what they can do to help http://www.arrc.org.nz/education/

Read more about Waxeyes that we treat at ARRC in “Wiremu and the Cat Gang”, one of our ten books that is part of the ARRC Kids Adventure Series to educate children about man’s impact on our natural heritage and what they can do to help http://www.arrc.org.nz/education/