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Hoiho
The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. Like most other penguins, it is mainly piscivorous. The species breeds along the eastern and south-eastern coastlines of the South Island of New Zealand, as well as Stewart Island/Rakiura, Stewart Island, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Islands. Colonies on the Otago Peninsula are a popular tourist venue, where visitors may closely observe penguins from Bird hide, hides, trenches, or tunnels. On the New Zealand mainland, the species has experienced a significant decline over the past 20 years. On the Otago Peninsula, numbers have dropped by 75% since the mid-1990s and population trends indicate the possibility of local extinction in the next 20 to 40 years. While the effect of r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curio Bay
Curio Bay is a coastal embayment in the Southland District of New Zealand, best known as the site of a petrified forest some 180 million years old. It also hosts a yellow-eyed penguin colony, arguably the rarest of penguin species, with approximately 1600 breeding pairs in the extant population. The bay, along with neighbouring Porpoise Bay, is home to the endemic Hector's dolphin. Southern right whales are occasionally observed offshore, as on numerous parts of the country's coast. Located near the southernmost point of the South Island, Curio Bay is one of the major attractions in the Catlins, attracting around 100,000 visitors per year. The town of Waikawa has an information center for tourists. The now petrified logs, from ancient conifers closely related to modern kauri and Norfolk pine, were buried by ancient volcanic mud flows and gradually replaced by silica to produce the fossils now exposed by the sea. The fossilised forest grew at a time of semi-tropical cli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
