Boulder Beach Conservation Area, an important yellow-eyed
penguin breeding area on Otago Peninsula, will be closed to
the public for three months from December 1.
It is the third year the Department of Conservation has
closed the beach, which is home to more than 60 breeding
pairs of the threatened species.
Doc Coastal Otago biodiversity programme manager David Agnew
said nesting yellow-eyed penguins did not respond well to
human interference.
"We are repeating our actions of the past two years because
of the beneficial effect the closures have already shown on
nest survival-rate and chick weights," he said, noting chick
weight gave a true indication of health.
"Over the past two seasons we have been very pleased and
grateful for the way the public has responded to this measure
to protect hoiho," he said.
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