The Yellow Eyed Penguin Overview - Created by….. Nicole, Maria, Rawinia, Amy, Libby, Peggy-Sue and Moss!

One nest’s flooring is covered with grass and the other has got flat rocks. Lots of tiny rocks are surrounding the nests. There is a tunnel leading from the nest to the sea, with a hole in the tunnel only big enough for a fish to swim through. The tunnel has a glass roof, which you can see through from the watch tower not very far away. Also inside the tower there is a telescope to see the penguins closer through.

A television in the tower shows the view of a camera inside an old egg with all the filling sucked out.  Outside, a remote-controlled mouse plays, waiting to tempt cats or dogs away from the nest.

An oak fence surrounds the nest, protecting the penguins from vermin. The top curves over, so possums can’t climb over. The door is LOCKED!!!

Inside the circle of the fence there is a screen of flax, hiding the fence so the penguins don’t feel encircled or scared.

A shop nearby to the tower sells tickets to see the penguins or to go to the tower, it also sells knitted penguins, key rings, souvenirs, etc.  

Nesting area

The grass nesting area has a fake egg with a little camera inside it. The camera helps people to see what Yellow-Eyed Penguins look like when they are on their nest. The people can see this film on the television screen in the watch tower. The nesting area has big rocks around it for protection and so their enemies can’t get in.

Y.E.P.s.- Yellow EYED penguin SHOP

This shop is for fundraising for yellow -eyed penguins. Our idea for the shop is that the shop will sell souvenirs to tourists. The money that the shop makes will go towards paying for more supplies for the watch tower. Room 8 will also make bangles and do some pictures to sell in the shop.       

The Watch Tower

To get into the watch you need to have a ticket from the shop. At the very top level there is a place where only the staff are allowed to control the mouse. The watch tower has a screen tv to show what happens at the nest. There is a viewing platform with a telescope. On the ground floor level there ware pamphlets available with information about Yellow-eyed penguins.

The Mouse – The trap!

The mouse will distract the cats and the dogs will get distracted by the cats. The mouse has a remote control in its ear that can be controlled from the watch tower. Every two or three weeks the battery will have to be changed in the mouse.

The Fence

It is camouflaged with lots of different green colours to make it blend it with the flax. The oak planks are dug deep into the ground and are very close together. The fence is 2 metres tall and it curves over and is slippery on the sides so possums cannot climb over it. There are no gaps on the sides so stoats and rats cannot get through.

The Tunnel

The tunnel has a double-glazed glass. The tunnel goes underground from the nesting area to the beach, There is a trap door to stop the sea lions getting through. There is a hatch to put bigger fish in for the penguins. There are some rocks inside the tunnel with grass on top to keep their feet comfortable.

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Collect your certificates from here.

From Rosalie Goldsworthy of the Katiki Point Penguin Trust

Wow! Kids sure have a great imagination!

The model seems to be, lets make the penguins prisoners and watch them carefully...

Why not have a semi-circle fence right next to the ocean so that the penguins can catch their own fish which is what they like to do?

A penguin will eat 3 + Tonnes of fish in a year and they like it fresh. Chasing it gives them good exercise.

The big fence will keep the cats and dogs out and with some electricity along the top, it will keep ferrets out too.

If they put grass in the penguins nest and tunnel, the penguin will poo on it, and instead of the poo soaking into the stones, it will soak into the grass and make a lovely home for fungus to grow. This is not healthy for penguins. They get sick lungs and sore feet from fungus.

They like stones underneath their feet that stay dry.

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Dave McFarlane - Field Manager, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust adds:

It is an interesting set up!

The tower is a bit obvious and could be a bit more hidden - perhaps by setting it into the ground - like a hide?

Rather than going for all the tunnels - because YEPs dont need tunnels, they can walk - they just need protection from the predators - ferets, stoats and cats.

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Dave Houston - Techincal Support Officer, Auckland, DOC adds:

These are some great ideas to protect the
penguins from predators. The fence would work well in keeping out the
nasties and the remote controlled mouse is a fun idea!

Having a viewing site some distance from the nest is good as is having a camera
as this yellow-eyed penguins don't like to be disturbed. It would be great if your tunnel opened out to the sea so that the penguins could go for a good long swim (they can swim more than 50km in a day!) and
catch their own fish.