Little blue penguin found on Whanganui beach unable to be saved

Little blue penguin found on Castlecliff Beach. Photo / Vets on Carlton

Whanganui's Vets on Carlton were surprised when an unusual animal was handed into them.

An injured little blue penguin was found on Castlecliff Beach on Monday, and taken to Vets on Carlton to be examined.

Dawn Morton, of Wanganui Manawatu Bird Rescue, picked up the penguin from Vets on Carlton and took it to Bulls, where it would be collected by staff from Wildbase Hospital at Massey University to be examined.

Shelly Butcher, resident vet at Wildbase Hospital, said the penguin wasn't in a good condition.

"When it came in, it was quite underweight, he didn't have much muscle. We did a radiograph and found a fracture of the pelvis. The right side of the pelvis was quite badly fractured in multiple locations and there was also a large wound over that site that was quite old and quite dirty as well.

"Unfortunately we were unable to stabilise the pelvic fractures, so weren't able to do anything to help that bird. Leg was pretty limp as well. There was feeling in the leg but less feeling than there should have been."

Butcher said the penguin was too injured to be stabilised and helped so they had to euthanise it.

The little blue penguin is the world's smallest penguin, growing to just over 25cm tall and weighing around 1kg.

Department of Conservation (DoC) Whanganui senior ranger supervisor Jim Campbell said they are known to moult between December and March and often come ashore to rest or recover from storms.

The penguin had likely been struggling with the injury for a while, Butcher said.

"Potentially that fracture was quite old so he was struggling to hunt for a while. I'd say it was still able to swim around but not as well as it should've been able to and probably hasn't been able to catch any fish for a while."

The wound looked like a "big swipe", with Butcher unsure what could have caused the damage or whether the penguin had been attacked by anything.

Graeme Taylor, DoC Wellington principal science adviser for marine species, thinks a colony injury or boat strike are most likely scenarios and the bird was not able to feed properly due to the injury and suffered malnutrition.

Butcher said they have had about eight little blue penguins brought in to them but penguins tend to be seen more at the southern hospitals.

Taylor said tracking studies done by Te Papa showed little blue penguins from the Marlborough Sounds swam up to Whanganui and Taranaki regions, but Kapiti and Mana Islands are also likely breeding populations for penguins turning up this far north.

Dogs are the biggest threat to penguins on land and should be kept on leashes if any native wildlife is seen, Campbell said.

If a penguin is seen and is uninjured, give it space and let it rest. If obviously injured, call the DoC hotline 0800 362 468 or contact Whanganui DoC.