Little penguin rescued from Kāpiti Coast sea wall after falling into deep hole

Ecological constultant Andy McKay rescued a trapped kororā from a hole in a sea wall. Photo / Chantal Martin

Armed with a chicken-catching net and a pair of leather gloves, a conservationist has rescued a kororā/little penguin trapped in a sea wall on the Kāpiti Coast.

Ecological consultant Andy McKay was contacted on Thursday morning by a resident who had noticed the penguin stuck in part of an eroding sea wall in front of their home.

Part of a group called the Kapiti Coast Biodiversity Project, McKay said erosion on the sea wall due to storms and high seas posed a risk to wandering kororā.

The penguin had become trapped in a hole eroded into the sea wall. Photo / Chantal Martin

"These sea walls are about 3 metres above sea level and there are steps down to the beach, but the penguins know how to climb down the steps and get above the sea wall.

"This one had come down and was obviously looking to come down to the beach, and was walking along the edge and then fell into the hole, probably about a metre and a half deep."

McKay had brought with him a net he used to catch his chickens at home, but the hole was too narrow and deep to use it.

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His only option was to get part of his body into the hole and remove the kororā with his hands.

"I knew it was going to bite me so I had the leather gloves, and basically I had to get the front half of my body into the hole," he said.

"And just try to coax it off the edge just so I could get a decent hold on it and get it out as gently as possible."

His only option was to get part of his body into the hole to reach the penguin. Photo / Chantal Martin

McKay had an audience of interested neighbours, as well as his children, watching the extraction unfold.

Although residents knew there were kororā in the area, they could be hard to spot in the daylight, making the rescue an exciting spectacle.

This morning I got a phone call asking me to come rescue a kororā/little penguin that had fallen into a hole behind an eroding sea wall.

Pleased to report it all went well. pic.twitter.com/UTar0BB0FD

— Andy McKay (@KorimakoEcology) December 3, 2020

"They're very rare to see because they normally come in late and night and leave early in the morning, so there's very few people that actually see them physically," he said.

"Most people only know about them because of the smell or they see feathers or they find dead ones."

The concerned resident who alerted him to the trapped penguin had been checking the sea wall every day, concerned kororā could become trapped in the holes eroded in the wall.

Andy McKay wore leather gloves in case the penguin bit him. Photo / Chantal Martin

McKay said anyone who found a kororā in trouble could contact the Department of Conservation emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT. He also reminded people living in coastal areas to keep their dogs on a leash.

The Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project had been running a penguin project since 2015, and had installed a camera on a nest in September, searchable on YouTube through #kapitikororacam.