Our fieldwork is with wild penguins. Most of them have been in care during their lives, but in the field, they remain wild. Some of them can be very staunch and hold their ground when on land, but others are runners.
The Fat Lady was a runner. She could see us from a distance and would be off on a mad scramble, before we could get within 50 m of her. Being mindful that she was at her home, we did not chase her, rather we would make a point of staying as far away as possible.
This behaviour would continue until she laid her eggs. Hormones are stronger than fear, so at last, we could “beep” her, get her microchip number, and confirm her identity. This is how she got her name. Every other penguin female in the colony had laid their eggs a week or more before – she was always last by a week. The laying was not over until the Fat lady laid!
Two chicks hatched but one died early on. They went to the Dunedin Wildlife hospital at 2 days old and one died shortly after they were returned to the nest 8 days later. The remaining chick was raised with great diligence until the post guard stage when the running behaviour resumed.
The chick fledged naturally. All was well until early March when we found her underweight, premoult with an injury to her foot. Two days later, she died. An autopsy at Massey showed that she died of Malaria. We had not yet taken blood to check for Malaria plasmodium in the blood.
Not many penguins get a name. Mostly they are known by their nest number – she was Mrs 79. It would seem that having Malaria and a foot injury led to her being underweight, and maybe the stress of being uplifted into care triggered the Malaria infection that killed her.
What we are hoping for now is the return of her chick from fledging and that the genetic line can continue.
Article written by
Rosalie Goldsworthy – Penguin Rescue
WReNNZ Committee vice-chair
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