The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has recorded a deficit for the second year in a row, in a further setback to an organisation already battling declining population numbers.
The figures were revealed at the Dunedin-based non-profit organisation's annual meeting at Conservation House last night.
Trust chairman and meeting facilitator Eric Shelton said the 2015 financial year, ended September 30, had been ‘‘a very, very bad year''.
The organisation's financial report formed part of that bleak summation, with a deficit of $56,046 recorded. That was slightly higher than the previous year, in which a deficit of $53,182 was recorded.
Trust treasurer Tim Mepham said the most significant operating cost was wages, which totalled $267,586.
The organisation had five full-time employees but paid various other contributors throughout the year, he said.
It netted $349,169 in revenue but had an expenditure of $405,215.
However, the news was not all bad.
An urgent Facebook appeal for assistance with birds injured by barracouta bites was over-subscribed within days and exceeded its target by several thousand dollars. The money was distributed to various organisations which provided penguin rehabilitation services.
The trust was also able to employ a specialist wildlife vet for the summer, who treated 22 yellow-eyed penguins, as well as numerous little penguins and a few Fiordland crested penguins.
Penguin numbers were down for the fourth year in a row, the annual report showed.
Low numbers had been found on the Otago coast and only a small number of nesting pairs were found during searches in the trust's reserves.
General manager Sue Murray said just over 200 breeding pairs were found last year, well below the 400-plus found the previous year.
‘‘We believe it's the lowest it's been for 25 years.''
The low figure could be the result of four poor breeding seasons, adults being observed but not breeding, or penguins ‘‘having a year off'', she said.
