Farmland effective nesting habitat for endangered hoiho penguins, new research finds

Farmland has been found to be an effective nesting habitat for endangered yellow-eyed penguins.

Hoiho penguins are declining on the South Island, but a new study says that they can thrive on farmland without the need for expensive reforestation projects.

The research was published in the Journal for Nature Conservation and it found no evidence that removing sheep and replanting native forest helped hoiho survive.

Lead author Dr Chris Lalas said that in the past he had been involved in reforesting efforts, only to find that penguins would walk through the saplings to go back into the sheep paddocks to nest.

"A couple of farmers on the Otago Peninsula independently found that they could make artificial nest sites, just boxes put on the ground and they were quite successful for nesting.

"All that was needed to make sure they were good, safe spots was to make sure they were shaded, and that was done by putting a clump of trees around them," he said.

Without a serious turnaround, scientists predict hoiho could become locally extinct on the mainland within two decades.

Dr Lalas said researchers concluded that diseases were the overwhelming threat to hoiho populations in the South Island - something he said should be the priority.

"Rather than spending money on trying to create a new forest habitat, all the money should be going into fixing the problems caused by diseases, by either trying to find cures or vaccines for the diseases," he said.