The Maori call them hoiho, meaning "noise shouter." We actually heard some penguins calling out, and a lady in our tour group said it sounded like pigs oinking. These New Zealand natives are the rarest penguins in the world. There are fewer than 5000 left, and their numbers continue to be threatened. Just at the end of 2004, in the spring, 80% of the penguin chicks right here on the Otago Peninsula were obliterated by a mystery disease.
Before coming to NZ I saw pictures of these guys and thought they were really freaky-looking because of the yellow streaks around their eyes. I changed my mind immediately after seeing them live, one as close as six feet away. The penguins were coming home after a day out in the ocean, and were cooling off their bodies when we saw them.
To reach their nests, they have to climb these really steep grassy cliffs that rise up from the beach. It's incredible how they manage to do this with their kneeless, stubby legs. They end up hopping a lot with both feet together like bunnies, which is so unbelievably cute. It'll be like waddle, waddle... going nowhere... HOP HOP HOP... waddle, struggle... HOP HOP HOP.
They have a lot of distance to cover before reaching their nests, so by the time they're done with the hard part, they need to cool off a bit. And that's when we first ran into them. They were standing still in the middle of the grass, holding their little wings out wide. They did this for longer than we had time to watch.
N.B. We were able to see the penguins up close because Elm Wildlife Tours has an exclusive contract with a private land owner that allows tours, as long as the groups are kept to a strict minimum and the tourists never do anything remotely intrusive or bothersome to the penguins.
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