{"id":198357,"date":"2025-12-23T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T17:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/198357\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T17:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T17:31:14","slug":"little-blue-penguins-special-christmas-eve-release-after-two-month-hospital-stint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/198357\/","title":{"rendered":"Little blue penguin&#8217;s special Christmas Eve release after two-month hospital stint"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4JVXDXE__L3A9607_JPG\" width=\"1050\" height=\"700\" alt=\"Pingu, the little blue penguin.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\nPingu, the little blue penguin.<br \/>\nPhoto: Supplied \/ BirdCare Aotearoa\n<\/p>\n<p>A koror\u0101 is set to be released back into the wild in Auckland on Wednesday afternoon after two months in hospital.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/national\/578927\/family-puts-bach-rebuild-on-hold-to-accommodate-nesting-korora\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">little blue penguin<\/a> was being cared for by BirdCare Aotearoa after getting stuck in a metal drum near Army Bay.<\/p>\n<p>The penguin, called Pingu, had an injured beak, as well as injured toes which the penguins use to climb.<\/p>\n<p>It was also severely dehydrated and underweight.<\/p>\n<p>BirdCare fundraising manager Dr Rashi Parker told RNZ Pingu was in a sad state.<\/p>\n<p>She said the hospital had been helping the bird recover.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Her feathers had to get waterproof so that she can actually stay warm,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s got quite a bit of blubber now so she can float, but we wanted to make sure that when her feathers get wet they repel water so she doesn&#8217;t lose too much heat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Now that Pingu had recovered, Parker said she was set for a very special Christmas Eve release.<\/p>\n<p>She said little blue penguins came to shore when they moulted, or when they were going back and forth with their babies.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This time is very critical for these koror\u0101,&#8221; Parker said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Their populations are in decline so we need to do everything we can to protect their coastal habitat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Parker said people should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/national\/582407\/auckland-owners-warned-to-control-dogs-after-attacks-on-little-blue-penguins\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">keep predators like dogs away<\/a> or on leash at beaches where the penguins could be found.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Piha, Te Henga, Omaha, Big Manly, these are all spots where small populations of koror\u0101 penguins are still hanging out, just really hanging on and hoping to survive,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re already struggling in terms of feeding, so let&#8217;s not make it any harder for them, so let&#8217;s protect those habitats by keeping our dogs, our predators away from those areas.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She urged those who came across a little blue on holiday not to rush in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Be very, very quiet, and just watch the bird and see what&#8217;s happening,&#8221; Parker said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sometimes they might just be sitting there, hanging out, because that&#8217;s what they do particularly over moulting season. If you&#8217;re concerned in any way, if there are dogs around, if it looks like a youngster who hasn&#8217;t had parents attend to it you&#8217;re most welcome to ring the [Department of Conservation] hotline.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The hotline number is 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/radionz.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&amp;id=b3d362e693\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pingu, the little blue penguin. Photo: Supplied \/ BirdCare Aotearoa A koror\u0101 is set to be released back&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-198357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}