Dogs attacking penguins at Muriwai Beach, trust urges rule compliance

Muriwai Beach has a fledgling penguin colony that's at risk from cars and dogs. Photo / RNZ / Tom Taylor

By Krystal Gibbens of RNZ

Penguins are being attacked by dogs at an Auckland beach because owners are ignoring the rules, the Muriwai Environmental Trust says.

Muriwai Beach on Auckland’s west coast gets over a million visitors a year and is home to wildlife including penguins, gannets and seals.

Several areas within the wider Muriwai Regional Park were off-limits to dogs to help protect Muriwai’s fledgling penguin colony, as well as the gannets and other wildlife.

Trust chairman Richard Wright said the beach did have a large area where dogs could be off-lead.

One of the big challenges was people ignoring the signs showing which areas were off-limits to dogs, he said.

“You would be under zero illusions whether it’s okay to take your dog down there or not.

“Some people just don’t give a toss, really.”

There were at least two penguin attacks in the months leading up to Christmas, Wright said.

Late last year a baby penguin chick about 40-50 days old was found by a surfer upside down in a puddle.

He said the bird was badly injured and presumed to have been shaken by a dog.

Prior to that, a tourist witnessed a penguin being attacked by an off-lead dog.

“Its owner was down by the water, the dog was up in the sand and the dog had a penguin in its mouth, and it was shaking it.”

Wright said the tourist had yelled at the owner.

“The woman turned round, looked kind of horrified, but then wandered off with a dog off the leash down the beach.”

Since the penguin death, locals had been less tolerant of people breaking the rules, but some were met with aggressive responses, Wright said.

Drivers also a hazard

Another hazard the penguins faced was cars on the beach, Wright said.

In peak periods in the evening hundreds of cars could be seen heading back from the beach, he said.

The cars posed a hazard to penguins nesting in the dunes that needed to cross the traffic after coming ashore.

A beach driver permit was required to drive on Muriwai Beach.

- RNZ

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