Mystery illness stalks world's rarest penguin
A mystery disease is killing off yellow-eyed penguin chicks in New Zealand in a fresh blow to efforts to conserve the world’s rarest member of the penguin family, a conservation group said on Thursday.
BirdLife International said the disease, which has baffled local scientists, had killed up to 80 percent of this spring’s chick’s in the worst affected areas on New Zealand’s South Island.
“Most penguin chicks have been found dead at nests on Otago Peninsula and North Otago, with other outbreaks on Stewart Island and the Catlins coast,” BirdLife said.
“With a global population of just under 5 000 birds, the yellow-eyed penguin is classified by BirdLife as endangered and is considered to be the world’s rarest penguin species,” it said.
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