Species dubbed 'the people's penguin' on brink of extinction
The yellow-eyed penguin was named Bird of the Year in both 2019 and 2024 and has been crowned 'the people's penguin' among the New Zealand locals. But with just 143 known nests remaining on the mainland, the future for the hoiho is looking bleak.
If you can tear yourself away from the piercing stare of the unreasonably good-looking penguin pictured above for just long enough to read this, then take heed – those yellow eyes won’t be around forever. In fact, with only 143 known nests remaining on mainland New Zealand, the Department of Conservation has issued a stark warning that “without a serious turnaround” the yellow-eyed penguin could become locally extinct within just two decades.
A seabird so revered by locals, the hoiho – one of the rarest penguins in the world – even appears on the New Zealand five-dollar bank note. Yet, with seasonal nest counts down as much as 80% since 2009 across its coastal habitats, this celebrated penguin is staring down the barrel of a rather bleak future.
Nest numbers across New Zealand’s Otago, Southland, and Rakiura regions are only part of the picture. A higher concern for the Department of Conservation is that there are currently fewer than 100 yellow-eyed penguin chicks in total living across Stewart Island and mainland New Zealand, offering – it has been warned – “no guarantee for their long-term survival”.
As long-lived seabirds, hoiho have a low reproductive rate and low juvenile survival to begin with. Of the chicks that will shortly fledge, it is therefore expected that less than 20% of these individuals will survive to adulthood.
These declining mainland hoiho numbers point to multiple threats, including disease, introduced predators, human disturbance, a significant shift in adult diet, fisheries bycatch, and marine predation.
“Work to save this taonga species includes predator control, monitoring nests, disease and injury treatment, starvation interventions, and planting of native vegetation to restore hoiho habitat,” said Aaron Fleming, the Department of Conservation’s Southern South Island director of operations.
Work has already begun to reverse the misfortunes of the hoiho, with conservationists on the ground at nesting sites from Waitaha down to Rakiura doing what they can to save the species from extinction.

“We have some really good people on the ground, but with such a large range to cover, it is extremely challenging,” said Puawai Swindells-Wallace, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu hoiho recovery representative. “Hoiho are a taonga species for Ngāi Tahu and it is unthinkable that we could lose them – we don’t really know what impact that could have on the whole ecosystem.
“We need to collectively increase our capacity to support the hoiho to regain their rightful place on our beaches and in our moana.”
The yellow-eyed penguin is a beloved species. In both 2019 and 2024, the species was coined ‘the people’s penguin’ and announced Bird of the Year. Recent mainland hoiho nest counts, however, have left experts concerned for their future.
The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust recently appointed Anna Campbell to lead the organisation, with a focus on innovation to accelerate restoration of coastal ecosystems.
“Nest and chick numbers are critically low on mainland New Zealand,” said Anna. “Now is the time to come together, be bold and brave – collaborating can enhance our potential to protect the hoiho. We are committed to a future where hoiho thrive in the natural environment.”
And collaboration is well underway. A coalition called the Hoiho Governance Group currently consists of representatives from the Department of Conservation, the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Ngāi Tahu, and Fisheries New Zealand and is working together to implement Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho – a strategy for pulling hoiho back from the brink of extinction.
Near term goals within the strategy are to halt the decline of the northern population and implement a monitoring programme to assess population dynamics and threats for the southern population. Longer term goals are to ensure the northern and the southern populations of hoiho are resilient, healthy, and stable; and to ensure that both populations maintain their geographical distribution and genetic diversity.

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