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. 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.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 17, 2017 02:46 UTC