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.
