Flippin’ good news! Taronga Zoo Sydney announces world-first zoo-born Fiordland Penguin chicks

Two Fiordland Penguin chicks

Two Fiordland Penguin chicks in Taronga’s zoo-based breeding program have reached fledging age in the only global breeding program for the vulnerable penguin species. Fiordland Penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhychus), also known as Tawaki or Fiordland Crested Penguins, are listed as a threatened species and are endemic to New Zealand.

“Taronga’s Fiordland Penguin colony consists of five adults all rescued from the wild and now exist as the world’s only zoo-population. We are so privileged to look after, learn from and breed this vulnerable species”, said Taronga Senior Marine Keeper Jo Walker.

“The Fiordland Penguin breeding program at Taronga is very important because of their vulnerable status in the wild. By being able to observe what they do in their burrows, how and what they feed their chicks is all ground-breaking information that has never been observed before”.

“Through this zoo-based breeding program at Taronga, and with the help of CCTV monitoring, we continue to find out everything there is to learn about the elusive breeding and nesting behaviours of Fiordland Penguins in our care, which in turn helps their cousins in the wild”, said Jo.

About Taronga’s Fiordland Penguin family

Four of Taronga’s Fiordland Penguins were found malnourished on Australian beaches and required treatment at Taronga’s Wildlife Hospital. Another female joined Taronga’s colony in 2017 after receiving treatment from Wellington Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital for extensive wounds. To prevent potential spread of disease to the declining wild population, these five rescued penguins formed the world’s first zoo-based breeding colony at Taronga Zoo Sydney, serving as an insurance population and providing significant biological and behavioural insight to guide conservation work for this vulnerable and illusive species in the wild.

Two breeding pairs formed in the Zoo’s Fiordland Penguin colony, with Ed and Dusky pairing up and successfully hatching their first viable egg, and long-term partners Munro and Moeraki successfully hatching their second ever chick and raising it through to fledging age. In the 2023 breeding season, Munro and Moeraki hatched their first ever chick, which devastatingly passed away before fledging.

Parents share incubation duties over 31-36 days until the chick hatches, then continue parenting duties to feed and protect the chick in the nest. Following close monitoring, Taronga Marine Keepers recorded data throughout the breeding season, learning never-before seen behaviours that will continue to help in recovery programs for the elusive species.

As Munro and Moeraki’s chick gains confidence and develops its swimming skills in the Zoo’s Great Southern Oceans seawater habitat, the Marine Keepers expect Ed and Dusky’s nine-week-old chick to remain behind-the-scenes in the zoo’s breeding facility until it loses its down-feathers under the shelter and security of its nestbox across the coming weeks.

Guests to Taronga Zoo Sydney are best placed to observe the zoo’s mixed penguin colony, inclusive of the five rescue adult Fiordland Penguins and the Little Penguin colony, at the daily 2:40pm Penguin Keeper Talk.

Taronga is not-for-profit, so every visit, donation, stay, or purchase is saving wildlife.

Taronga Zoo Sydney is open 9:30am-5:00pm. For more information about planning a visit to Taronga Zoo Sydney or to purchase your tickets online for up to 20% off, visit www.taronga.org.au

About Fiordland Penguins

• Fiordland Penguins are a rare species of crested penguin, with a large yellow eyebrow stripe, with an estimated population of 2,500-3,000 breeding pairs remaining in the wild.
• They are generally secretive and do not form large colonies like other penguin species, instead nesting in remote caves, rock faces, and amongst tree roots in New Zealand’s south-western South Island, including the Fiordland region for which they are named, Stewart Island, and several offshore islands. Outside of breeding season they travel across New Zealand, into deeper ocean, and occasionally as far as the Australian mainland as they forage.
• Threats including habitat destruction, introduced predators such as rats, stoats and ferrets, which prey on penguin chicks and eggs have had a detrimental impact on wild populations.
• Fiordland penguins also fall victim to becoming by-catch of the fishing industry and the accidental entanglement or digestion of litter. Single-use plastics may offer a moment of convenience however they will never break down, putting wildlife like the Fiordland Penguin at risk.