The first 2 "fluff balls" have arrived...At 4 weeks old they were found just in time
having starved for 4-5 days next to their dead mother (probably predated).
After a few "fish-smoothies" and on medication they are recovering well and gaining weight.
Thanks for the generous donations we received after a recent visit to the colony. The participants of the organised F&B tours were very interested and interactive. We actually found a penguin we rehabbed in 2017 in burrow 109...
it was raised from 120g (see gallery) to over 1 kg and released back into the wild.
We have admitted 35 penguins this year, most of them White-flippered penguins (as small as 390g!) but also yellow-eyed penguins and an Erect-crested penguin from Antipodes/Bounty Islands which has been attacked by a dog. Thanks to our vets for lots of surgery...
We had the busiest season yet.
35 penguins have been admitted and stayed for 4.7 days on average. Lots of fish...
After a 2-hour effort we managed to rescue a White-flippered penguin chick out of the Avon with the help of a young man in a kayak!!!The bird weighed only 449g and should have about 900 at that age. It is doing well, still only able to stand up for short moments.
A little underweight at 552g (should have about 900 to 1000g) and covered in ticks and fleas - but otherwise healthy - we started giving oral fluids and "fish-smoothy". via a feeding tube. Hopefully tomorrow it will be little salmon!
4 Yellow-eyed penguins and a - rare visiting - Erect-crested penguin from the Antipodes Is go through 5 kg of fish per day!!! Please help ( a 10kg box of sardines costs $48) by donating just "a little"...
AVON has been released back to the wild into a colony close to Taylor's Mistake near CHCH with a weight of 1189 g!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck little fellow..............
Here is a link to an article on Stuff about the little blue penguin named Avon and his friends at Christchurch Penguin Rehabilitation: http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/88518082/christchurch-couple-give-injured-rescue-penguins-the-full-pamper-treatment
You can follow Avon's progress on Stuff:
http://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/88187613/penguin-spotted-in-avon-river-in-central-christchurch
