The work, on behalf of the Department of Conservation (Doc), was the result of "over 10 years" of discussions with the colony and was "absolutely" good news, Doc Oamaru community ranger Andy Powazynski said.
The plan "fell off the radar a few times" with Doc’s restructuring but the timing was ideal, as the work had been done by local volunteers who were ageing and were no longer able to continue.
The colony would focus on the roughly 4ha at the reserve but would, over time, increase the area trapped along the coast of Cape Wanbrow — "a massive area".
Mr Powazynski said trapping at the reserve had caught 12 stoats in the past few weeks.
"It’s not as endemic as we first thought — we thought it would be really bad," he said.
"It’s not overly bad, but it’s bad enough there to affect the penguin colony chicks."
At the colony’s peak, six breeding pairs nested on Bushy Beach. This year there were two breeding pairs, which produced four chicks. Two of those chicks died.
Doc could not confirm why the chicks died, but many birds along the Otago coast were succumbing to disease believed to be contracted in the marine environment.
Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony marine biologist Dr Philippa Agnew said the colony had a long-standing working relationship with Doc and already conducted predator trapping at the little penguin colony at the quarry on the northern end of Cape Wanbrow, as well as the non-commercial colony at Oamaru Creek, to the north of Holmes Wharf.
The trapping at the reserve would help all native wildlife in the area, which included little penguins, as well as the yellow-eyed penguins. The two species did not compete for habitat "as they have different nesting requirements".
"The trapping there is not only for the yellow-eyeds but for all the birdlife there," Dr Agnew said.
"That’s the only area within the Oamaru vicinity where the yellow-eyed penguins are."
Two colony staff would educate visitors to the reserve, "encouraging people to behave a little more sensibly" as penguins came ashore.
Mr Powazynski said the colony’s advocacy programme had started only this week, but it seemed to be successful.
"What’s been tending to happen is that the tourists take it upon themselves, because there is no-one monitoring it, to go down to the beach when they [yellow-eyed penguins] are coming in and hassling the birds, and also other wildlife, too."
The colony wanted to increase the birds nesting there and staff stationed at the reserve could encourage visitors to stay off the beach while the penguins came ashore, he said.
Dr Agnew agreed, but cautioned that growing the numbers of yellow-eyed penguins breeding in Oamaru would not be an easy task.
"That’s the hope, but as we’re all aware, the yellow-eyed penguin numbers have been decreasing on the Otago coastline," she said.
"So that is our aim, definitely, to help grow that population and give them the best shot they’ve got on land so they can cope with whatever’s going on at sea that is causing them challenges."
The Doc website says "unique flora and fauna" exist at the reserve, with a number of native species "at either their southern or northern geographical limit".
"The natural coastal vegetation at Bushy Beach Scenic Reserve is the last remaining in the area. Wind-sheared scrub, dominated by hebe, ngaio, mahoe and broadleaf, clings to the cliffs and shelters penguins, and other seabirds, and a variety of insects."
