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Near the Royal Albatross Colony on the Otago Peninsula we paid $7.50 each to drive out a dirt track to a Yellow-Eyed Penguin sanctuary. We looked down towards the sea and saw them returning in the evening. It took them a long time to walk up the very steep hill to their nests, and they were fascinating to watch. These are the rarest penguins, with only about 1500 breeding pairs, and they live only on and near New Zealand. With continuing habitat loss plus new predators (cats, dogs and ferrets) the population is decreasing. (postcard photo) |