Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) at nest site, South Island, New Zealand

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ThisYellow-eyed Penguin (with its chick, on left) was photographed at its nest off the southern coast of New Zealand (South Island) in 1984. Since then its numbers have rapidly decreased, and only an estimated 4000 birds still survive. The main threats include habitat degradation, introduced predators and environmental changes. It is possibly the most ancient of all living penguins. In spring 2004, a disease killed off 60% of Yellow-eyed penguin chicks on the Otago peninsula and in North Otago. The disease has been linked to an infection of corynebacterium, a family of bacteria that also causes diphtheria in humans. A similar problem affected the Stewart Island population too.

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Size: 5010px × 3386px
Photo credit: © Paul Harris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: antipodes, baby, burrow, dagli, endangered, extinction, eyed, gialli, hoiho, island, megadyptes, nest, occhi, otago, penguin, peninsula, pinguino, rare, site, south, spheniscidae, yellow, zealand