They are proud to have been accredited under their Animal Welfare standards. ZAA manages the coordination of breeding programmes and sets the level of professional standards and practice for members. They are also part of the Zoo and Aquarium Association - a regional organisation for zoos in the Australasian region. The zoo follows the WAZA commitments to excellence in animal welfare and conservation. They are proud to be the world’s first carboNZero certified zoo and they became the first zoo to win the Environmental Sustainability Award at the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The Trust runs the Zoo on behalf of Wellington City Council. The Zoo is a not for profit charitable trust, and has been that way since 2003. Wellington Zoo is New Zealand’s first Zoo and Wellington’s oldest conservation organisation, caring for animals since 1906. ![]() Waka kotahi NZTA continue to support the penguin protection fence through an annual amount allocated to fence maintenance and used for this purpose by Westport based road contractor, WestReef. Their focus on safety fitted with the Trust's aim to protect penguins and keep them off the road and the Trust was hugely grateful for the agency's support managing the safety of the fence construction project. Waka Kotahi NZTA recognised the risk posed to drivers on the Coast Road (state highway 6) at night, where penguins on the road could cause drivers to swerve off the road. "We’re working to deliver our customer promise – great journeys to keep New Zealand moving." We’re innovating to make sure the system is efficient and sustainable, unlocking opportunity and keeping New Zealand moving. "We look after the national transport system with our partners, today and for the future. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is focused on providing one integrated land transport system that helps people get the most out of life and supports business. "A great journey is easy, safe and connected. Inset: Location of Commonwealth Bay region, East Antarctica. Locations of the Cape Denison, Mackellar and Hodgeman islands Adélie penguin census sites. “If young birds do not visit Cape Denison, there will probably be few recruits to replace older established breeders, and numbers breeding there are likely to continue to decline even after the ice finally breaks up.”Ī short video (2m 19s) is available telling a little of the story here: Giant iceberg decimates Adélie penguin colony at Cape Denison and the journal article can be read here: Antarctic Science 2016 Wilson et al Adelies Denison S0954102015000644a MODIS image of fast ice extent in the Commonwealth Bay and Mertz Polynya region on 15 December 2013 (credit: Dr Jan Liester, AAD). No prospecting penguins were recorded, which are critical to the future of the colony. ![]() the normally noisy, aggressive penguins were quiet, and incubating birds hardly acknowledged our intrustion into their realm.” ![]() They recorded many sad observations including hundreds of abandoned eggs and the ground being “littered with the freeze-dried carcasses of previous season’s chicks.” They noted that “during the 2013 visit, the Cape Denison penguin colony was uncharacteristically silent …. Kerry-Jayne, co author and expedition leader, Chris Turney, and other co authors Christopher Fogwill and Estelle Blair, attribute this recent decline to the now vast distance the penguins have to travel for food. The scientists estimate the size of the colony to number 5520 pairs at the time of their expedition two years ago, a massive decline since Mawson’s day, but also less than half of the number counted in 2011 of 13,834 pairs. As a result, the colony of Adélie penguins, numbering more than 100,000 in Mawson’s day a century ago, now has to travel more than 60km, rather than 8km, to find food in the bay. A giant iceberg, known as B09B, had broken off and then become stuck in Commonwealth Bay and surrounded by year-round fast ice. ![]() This conclusion has been made following the visit of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013/14. Trust Chair, Kerry-Jayne Wilson, is lead author of a report published this week in the journal Antarctic Science, which concludes that the Cape Denison colony could be wiped out within 20 years.
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