A protest march was held down the main street of Balclutha in support of the critically endangered yellow-eyed penguin today.
Nine members of Forest and Bird donned yellow-eyed penguin costumes and marched from St Andrew's Presbyterian Church to the Balclutha iSite and back with one member on a hospital bed.
Funeral music was played as they marched to highlight the critical situation the native birds found themselves in.
Forest and Bird South Otago branch chairman Roy Johnstone said the protest march was to bring awareness to the reduced population numbers of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin.
He believed the community needed to rally to try and save them from extinction.
There were several small breeding colonies along the coast, but the main one was based at Long Point, where Forest and Bird carried out predator control and monitoring.
Statistics indicated penguin populations could be gone by 2060 if nothing was done to protect them.
Mr Johnstone said he was happy with the march but would have liked if more people were out in the town as it took place.
