Kororā | Little penguins
Kororā Projects
Little penguins live and breed all around the New Zealand mainland and the Chatham Islands. While there are many community groups looking after their local Little penguin populations, there is little coordination and information exchange. As result it is difficult to accurately assess the status of Little penguins in New Zealand. Moreover, most scientific information about Little penguins originates from studies conducted in Australia.
Seven main research milestones have been identified essential to improve our ability to develop evidence-based conservation of Little penguins in New Zealand.
| Milestone number | Category | Description | Target Outcome | ETA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LP1 | Demography | Liaise with monitoring data holders to progress analysis of long-term data sets. | Publication of comprehensive population analyses | 2020 |
| LP2 | Demography | Develop universal monitoring and survey protocols as well as a centralized Little penguin monitoring database accessible to all regional groups. | Open accessible Little penguin monitoring database (web-based) | 2020 |
| LP3 | Demography | Work towards adoption of national monitoring plan and adjust monitoring protocols and database requirements. | Standard Operational Practice documentation/Monitoring manual | 2020 |
| LP4 | Demography | Design analysis protocols for recorded data. | Analysis scripts/cloud-based service/written manual | 2021 |
| LP5 | Marine Ecology | Facilitate, support and conduct projects investigating foraging behaviour nation-wide to establish a base understanding of Little penguins’ utilization of the marine habitat. | Research projects | long term |
| LP6 | Marine Ecology | Liaise with Australian researchers to ensure continuous flow of information of latest research conducted across the Tasman and facilitate collaborative efforts. | Annual summary of novel research outcomes and overview of ongoing research projects. | long-term |
| LP7 | Human Impacts | Identify and map regions where human impacts likely play a significant role (e.g. road kill, urban centres) and liaise with relevant community & advocacy groups to mitigate negative effects. | Publication; compilation of best practices manual. | 2020 |
Latest updates
Read about our progress towards our kororā milestones from our latest report.
Full report available here.
Kororā Conservation Groups
Kororā conservation in New Zealand relies heavily on the efforts of community groups. We’re working with some of these groups to coordinate a national monitoring programme and better inform kororā conservation actions.
Explore the map to read about the work that community groups are doing around the country, and find out how you can get involved. If you’re part of a kororā conservation group that isn’t on the map, or you’re looking to start up such a group, get in touch!
