A project studying Fiordland crested penguins at Jackson Bay has been extended after almost every chick and egg in the colony was eaten by stoats. Fiordland Crested Penguin. The West Coast Penguin Trust is in its third year of monitoring the colony on Jackson Head. According to the penguin trust, this appears to have led firstly to the predicted explosion in the rat population, followed by stoats, and the stoats have then spread out from beech forests seeking other food - penguin eggs and chicks. "This should allow fact-based conservation management regimes to be developed and put in place to conserve populations and/or habitats as required."

Source: Otago Daily Times March 21, 2017 07:18 UTC