New Trust to benefit Mauao penguins

All Bay of Plenty locals know and love the special areas around Mount Maunganui – Mauao, Moturiki (Leisure) Island and Motuotau (Rabbit) Island – but what they may not know is how diverse and amazing the wildlife that live in these places are. Luckily there is a new Trust which has made it their mission to provide a safe haven for these animals.

The Mauao Area Wildlife Trust has been formed by five passionate conservationists who want to raise the public’s awareness to how special these places are and what we can all do to help preserve them.

“The colonies of sea-birds around the Mount Maunganui area are amazing - you can walk five minutes and be in the middle of a colony you’d normally have to take a boat or kayak to see,” says trustee Julia Graham.

Of course, where there are ground-nesting birds there are pests and a lot of the group’s time is taken up with pest control.

“There’s potential for just one stoat to wipe out an entire colony,” says trustee Paul Cuming.

Rabbit also compete with ground nesting sea birds – they create warrens under the earth which can erode areas above, threatening the native trees.

“Nature is such a complex system, an incredible network –it’s not just penguins, it’s the rock, the trees the whole system,” says trustee Mel Kellett.

“It’s all connected and we need to take care of all of it,” adds trustee Sandi Van Leeuwen.

“We want to see all the biodiversity populations enhanced in general,” comments trustee Melissa McLuskie.

These are a group of experienced, well-educated conservationists. Julia and Sandi are graduates of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s Environmental Management diploma, Melissa is a current Polytechnic environmental student; Mel is a graduate of the Polytechnic’s Marine Science programme; Paul is a L3 bird-bander and a main figure of the grey-faced petrel project. The group have been helping to look after this area for a long time – most of them met during the Rena clean-up process three years ago.

Julia was studying little blue penguins as her final project for her Bachelor’s degree when the Rena tragedy occurred. She ended up becoming an integral part of the penguin rescue teams and has since been involved in leading the monitoring teams which oversee the recovery of the penguins.

The team make no bones about it - the Mauao Area Wildlife Trust is here to stay, making sure this beautiful network of trees and birds will stay safe for future generations to enjoy.

“I have a dream of bringing my grandchildren here in 20 years’ time and there will still be penguins here,” says Julia. “I want to see the look on my grandchildren’s face when they hold their first penguin.”

Penguins are just one of the many native species that are present in the Mauao Area. Diving Petrels and Grey Faced Petrels nest here, as well as various wading birds, and native land birds. You can see the variety of wildlife present in our backyard by looking at the trust website www.mauaowildlife.org

Here are some facts on the Penguins which have been in the limelight recently!

Little Blue Penguin facts:
- It is the smallest penguin in the world
- It is a protected species
- They are 30-40cm high
- The average weight is 800 grams to 1 kilo
- They are very feisty
- Approximately 200 live on Leisure Island, 800 on Mauao and 400 on Rabbit Island

What can the public do to help?
- Keep their dogs away
- If they live locally they can keep their cats inside at night (cats can easily kill a full-grown Little Blue Penguin but the chicks are the most vulnerable)
- Take rubbish away – bottles in particular can block penguin burrows
- Be responsible with fishing gear; take fishing line away and bait as it attracts rats

Mauao Area Wildlife Trust will be having an Open Day on Sunday, 5th October from 10am – 3pm at the Mount Drury sound shell. There will be fun family activities and free wildlife tours.

If you’d like to donate or volunteer visit the Trust’s website: www.mauaowildlife.org for details.