![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792380972_699_4KMHENG_LDR_logo_horizontal_DEFAULT_png.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nVolunteers efforts have been stepped up to protect Kaik\u014dura’s little blue penguins – koror\u0101 from an unusual threat: curious humans.<\/p>\n
New reserves have been developed at secret locations through a team effort by the Kaik\u014dura Wildlife Centre Trust, volunteers, the Kaik\u014dura District Council, Environment Canterbury (ECan) and the Department of Conservation (DOC).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trust volunteer manager Sabrina Luecht said the reserves are being set up on council and ECan land, and are being kept secret to protect the birds from ”visitor disturbance”.<\/p>\n
”Human disturbance continues to be a major concern, negatively impacting penguins, with harassment and stress caused to the few koror\u0101 that remain.<\/p>\n
”There is a misconception that because we are a wildlife hotspot they are doing OK, but they are on the brink and they are reliant on us.”<\/p>\n
![\"Kaik\u014dura](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4JJYD4C_Kaikoura_korora_reserves_established_as_intensely_managed_safe_zones_jpeg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Visitors are being told to stay away from the reserves.<\/p>\n
Supplied\/ Kaik\u014dura Wildlife Centre Trust<\/p>\n
The reserves have been years in the planning and took four months to complete.<\/p>\n
Grants from the regional council and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), and fundraising, have helped the project, with the trust managing the sites.<\/p>\n
The labour was provided by volunteers, with the exception of a contract fencer.<\/p>\n
The final stage of the project is planting the reserve sites with hundreds of native plants, which have been grown especially.<\/p>\n
”The reserves focus on habitat restoration to facilitate wildlife corridors, as few suitable coastal sites with native vegetation remain,” Luecht said.<\/p>\n
”The objective is to create urban safe zones, to encourage threatened wildlife to return in predator controlled areas.”<\/p>\n
Signage is used to warn that the sites are not visitor attractions or viewing destinations, she said.<\/p>\n
”The trust facilitates daily volunteer reserve patrols, to enable public education and mitigate visitor disturbance.”<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4JHWTQG_Hur1172LDRpenguins2_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
An adult little penguin protecting its chicks (file photo).<\/p>\n
Kaik\u014dura Wildlife Centre Trust<\/p>\n
Raising public awareness remains a wider aim of the trust.<\/p>\n
The reserves have been set up to prevent dog attacks on coastal wildlife, to mitigate human disturbance and to restore habitat.<\/p>\n
”Dog control is a significant component of reserve management, and where signage stipulates, dogs are required to be on leads at all times year-around,” Luecht said.<\/p>\n
Kaik\u014dura District Council animal control officers will monitor the reserve sites regularly to enforce the council’s animal control bylaw, which was updated last year.<\/p>\n
”Community guardianship is a critical aspect of long-term reserve success,” Luecht said.<\/p>\n
”The goal is to showcase conservation in action, to enable the community to protect, restore and enhance our natural environment, ensuring wildlife and people can thrive.<\/p>\n
”It is hoped that reserves inspire further initiatives of this kind in the district.”<\/p>\n
The little penguins face multiple threats, with the latest being the prospect of avian flu arriving in the region.<\/p>\n