A plethora of penguins come ashore at Taiaroa Head every night, but some have come to grief crossing the road as they return to their nests.
A trio of penguin fatalities recently and a car accident caused by a wayward bird have led to a call for signs warning motorists to watch out for penguins.
The issue was raised at last week's Otago Peninsula Community Board meeting.
Board members had reports that three little blue penguins had been hit by cars and killed recently. In another incident a driver had stopped for a penguin and an accident occurred.
Dunedin City Council senior traffic engineer Ron Minnema said the council was happy to install signs if the board paid for them. This was because there were many areas in Dunedin that might need non›standard signage and the DCC did not want to establish a precedent of paying for all of them, he said.
Board member Christine Neill said it would be good if the Pukekura Trust could get involved as, without its evening penguin tours, the area of road where the penguins crossed would not have cars on it at night.
Board member and Blue Penguins Pukekura manager Hoani Langsbury declared a conflict of interest and did not take part in discussions as a board member. He said the trust would be happy to pay half the cost of the signage.
The board moved to pay half the cost of the signs if the trust would pay the other half.
- by Jonathan Chilton-Towle
