Tourist host confident Fiordland crested penguin numbers are on the rise

A West Coast tourism operator says an increase in tawaki sightings suggests more are navigating the Tasman Sea to nest in nearby rainforest.

Tawaki, also know as the Fiordland crested penguin, is one of the rarest penguin species with a population of around 7000 birds.

Dr Gerry McSweeny from the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki said tawaki were unique among penguins as they bred in temperate rainforest only in the southwest corner of Aotearoa.

The Lodge has been taking guests to see tawaki under a special licence from the Department of Conservation since 1989.

"As part of our trips we monitor penguin numbers with around 80 trips per season," he said.

"Over the last 26 years since pest control started here, penguin movements across the beach have shown a small but significant increase, growing from an average of eight to 24 penguins seen on each trip."

They are most easily seen along the Lake Moeraki coast during breeding season from July to December, and stand 60 centimetres tall.

"Tawaki build their nests beneath logs and boulders. These will be deep in the forest, often hundreds of metres inland and up steep hillsides.

"Adults must negotiate the pounding surf, wild beaches and dense undergrowth as they make their way between the Tasman Sea and their rainforest nests."

McSweeny and Anne Saunders from the Lodge have been working to conserve tawaki for more than three decades, campaigning to establish and enforce a wildlife refuge to protect penguins from predators.

The Department of Conservation runs an aerial pest control programme on the Lake Moeraki coastline to control rats and stoats that kill penguin chicks, with the latest conducted late last month.

"It covered the 50,000 hectares between the Haast River and the Paringa River in perfect conditions and it has resulted in a massive reduction in rat, possum and stoat numbers.

"The timing of this work is perfect for the coming native bird breeding season," McSweeney said.