Tawaki / Fiordland Crested Penguins are endemic to Aotearoa and are the only crested penguin to breed on mainland New Zealand. They are one of the rarest and least studied penguins in the world, because of their shy and mysterious nature and the fact that their nests are incredibly hard to find and monitor.
Tawaki are classified as ‘at risk: declining’ in the New Zealand threat classification system and there is an apparent population decline of up to 7%.
The NZ Nature Fund has committed to raising $110,000 to assist DOC and the Tawaki Project with a five year project to monitor and update the number of Tawaki nests, and assess their population trends in Fiordland. Understanding more about population trends in these penguins will also help unlock knowledge about the immediate threats of climate change on New Zealand’s coastal ecosystem.
A private donor generously kick started the funding for this project in July this year, contributing $24,000 towards Stage 1 in 2024. Following this initial contribution NZ Nature Fund is looking for another $26,000 to complete Stage 2 in 2025 and $15,000 each year from 2024-2029 for the next years to continue monitoring population trends in Fiordland.
To find out more about this exciting and ground-breaking project and how you can donate, please visit our webpage: https://nznaturefund.org/projects/fiordland-crested-penguin-tawaki/
