The yellow-eyed penguin has won New Zealand’s fiercely-contested Bird Of The Year competition – with campaigners hoping its victory will prompt a revival of the species.
The birds, thought to be the rarest type of penguin in the world, are a shy species sometimes referred to as “hoihos” – meaning “noise shouters” in the Maori language.
Victory in New Zealand’s Bird Of The Year competition comes after a long-running contest that was without the foreign interference scandals and cheating controversies of past polls.
Instead, campaigners sought votes in the usual ways – launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty.
More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late-night host John Oliver drove a humorous campaign for the puteketeke – a “deeply weird bird” which eats and vomits its own feathers – securing a landslide win.
‘Birds are our heart and soul’
This year, the number of votes cast represented 1% of the population of New Zealand – a country where nature is never far away and where a love of native birds is instilled in citizens from childhood.
“Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for the fourth-placed ruru, a small brown owl with a melancholic call.
Birds are much-loved in New Zealand and often rare. File pic: AP
New Zealand’s only native mammals are bats and marine species, putting the spotlight on its birds, which are beloved – and often rare.
Yellow-eyed penguins are only found on New Zealand’s South and Chatham islands – and on subantarctic islands south of the country.
Numbers have dropped by 78% in the past 15 years.
“This spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from mainland Aotearoa (the Maori-language name for New Zealand) before our eyes,” Nicola Toki, chief executive of Forest & Bird – the organisation that runs the poll, said.
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Despite intensive conservation efforts on land, she said, the birds drown after getting caught up in nets in the sea and cannot find enough food.
“The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it brings tangible support,” said Charlie Buchan, campaign manager for the hoiho.
Numbers of the Hoi-ho have dropped by 78% in the last 15 years. File pic: AP
But while the bird is struggling, it attracted a star billing in the poll: celebrity endorsements flew in from English zoologist Jane Goodall, host of the Amazing Race Phil Keoghan, and two former New Zealand prime ministers.
Aspiring bird campaign managers – this year ranging from power companies to high school students – submit applications to Forest & Bird for the posts.
The hoiho bid was run by a collective of wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in the city of Dunedin, where the bird is found on mainland New Zealand, making it the highest-powered campaign of the 2024 vote.
“I do feel like we were the scrappy underdog,” said Emily Bull, a spokesperson for the runner-up campaign, for the karure – a small, “goth” black robin only found on New Zealand’s Chatham Island.
Yellow-eyed penguins are only found on New Zealand’s South and Chatham islands. Pic: AP
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The karure’s bid was directed by the students’ association at Victoria University of Wellington, prompting a fierce skirmish on the college campus when the student magazine staged an opposing campaign for the korora, or little blue penguin.
The rivalry provoked a meme war and students in bird costumes.
Several people got tattoos.
When the magazine’s campaign secured endorsements of the city council and local zoo, Ms Bull despaired for the black robin’s bid.
But the karure – which has performed a real-life comeback since the 1980s, with conservation efforts increasing the species from five birds to 250 – took second place overall.
A karure, or Chatham Islands black robin was the runner-up in the competition. Pic: AP
‘Wholesome’ fun
Referring to Oliver’s high-profile campaign last year, Ms Rawson said: “There’s been no international interference, even though that was actually a lot of fun.”
It was not the only controversy the election has seen.
While anyone in the world can vote, Forest & Bird now requires electors to verify their ballots after foreign interference plagued the contest before.
In 2018, Australian pranksters cast hundreds of fraudulent votes in favour of the shag.
The following year, Forest & Bird was forced to clarify that a flurry of votes from Russia appeared to be from legitimate bird-lovers.
While campaigns are fiercely competitive, managers described tactics more akin to pro wrestling – in which fights are scripted – than divisive political contests.
“Sometimes people want to make posts that are kind of like beefy with you and they’ll always message you and be like, hey, is it OK if I post this?” Ms Bull said.
“There is a really sweet community. It’s really wholesome.”