Our first Hoiho chick is due Labour Day!
We're having a hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin baby shower! Please help support us to help save this species. Give a little and make a big difference.
Our wildlife hospital plays a big role in a ground-breaking captive management programme for hoiho chicks being hand-reared and treated for diseases before release back to the wild.
We estimate there are only about 140 breeding pairs left on the mainland here in Ōtepoti Dunedin - the Wildlife Capital of New Zealand. During the breeding season, hoiho face a variety of threats they have to deal with - disease that affects both chicks and adults, mammalian predators attacking small chicks and the effects of starvation on both adults and chicks. We estimate that without help, sadly between 60 and 70% would die.
To help combat this, hoiho chicks are uplifted from their nest and raced straight to us here in the hospital for admission and intensive care. Most are 1-2 days old and weigh about 100 grams (some still arrive in their eggs). Once treated, chicks are taken safely back to the nests they came from and reunited with 'Mum' and 'Dad', thanks to the Department of Conservation's highly skilled frontline rangers.
What many people don't realise is just how much this important work costs us - it is nearly $350,000 every year!
And what many people don't realise is the work that goes into feeding all those little hungry mouths! Our vet team and amazing volunteers make up 300 litres of ‘fish smoothie’ each season which takes us between 3-5 months and thousands of hours. It's all done by hand with a sieve just like you probably have at home!
We've discovered an amazing piece of kit - a super Robot Coupe automatic sieve that could do all that work in just 2 days! It means the penguins benefit from a fresher mixture too and that's way better for them. If you could help us out to buy that sieve and help fund some of our important work, it would be a game-changer for us!
Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for the fun promotion we’ve got going - guess the number of chicks we'll have treated here in the hospital by the end of November and have the chance to name our new sieve! Will it be 'Robert the Robot' or 'Steve the Sieve'? We’re certain there will be some really creative names out there!
The three people that guess the number of chicks (or come the closest to), get a double pass for an amazing tour here on the Otago Peninsula thanks to our good friends at Clearwater Wildlife Tours. This amazing tour takes you to the Clearwater Cape Saunders Farm where you can view hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins, New Zealand sea lions, fur seals and a variety of sea and wading birds. You get to see a variety of wildlife including native birds amid breath-taking scenery, as well as the Clearwater farming history dating back six generations.
Happy guessing everyone and thanks in advance for all your support!
Promotion terms and conditions
Entry into the promotion is deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions. Information on how to enter and prizes form part of these conditions of entry.
The promotion is open to New Zealand residents and individuals who follow from other countries, i.e. people from any country, not just New Zealand, can participate in the promotion. Employees of the Promoter and any agency involved with this promotion, and the immediate families of such employees, are not eligible to enter. Immediate family includes the spouse, defacto spouse, child, parent, or sibling.
The promotion commences Labour Day at 9am Monday 27 October and closes at 5pm Sunday 30 November 2025 (“Promotional Period”).
To enter the promotion, during the promotional period the entrant must correctly guess the number of hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin chicks the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital will treat during November 2025 by commenting on the promotion posts in the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital Facebook and Instagram social media accounts.
Incomplete entries will be deemed invalid.
This is a one-off promotion and there will be three winners drawn under supervision on Monday 1 December 2025.
Winners will be advised by direct message (DM).
The three winners will each receive a double pass for a Clearwater Wildlife Tour which takes place at Cape Saunders and around the Otago Peninsula in the South Island of New Zealand. The prize has a value of $NZ450 for a double pass. The prize is not changeable or redeemable for cash. The prize can be transferred by the winner if they are not able to travel to Otago/NZ to take part in the tour. Please note that children under 5 years old are not eligible for the tour.
Of these three winners, one winner (with the closest guess) will also be able to name the automatic Robot Sieve that the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital hopes to purchase with donation proceeds received from this promotion. The name cannot infringe copyright or be deemed obscene.
In the event that the winners do not respond to notification of their win within 7 days, the Promoter reserves the right to redraw the prize under the original terms of the prize draw.
Once awarded, the Promoter is not liable for any part of the prize that has been lost, stolen, forged, damaged or tampered with in anyway.
In the event that the prize becomes unavailable for any reason beyond the Promoter’s control, the Promoter may in its sole discretion decide to provide an alternative prize.
Neither the Promoter nor any other entity associated with this promotion will be responsible for any late, lost, misdirected, corrupted, incomplete or incorrectly submitted entries, including but not limited to entries not received due to technical problems or human error. The time entries are deemed to be made will be the time the entry is received, not the time the entry is submitted by an entrant.
The Promoter reserves the right to disallow entries in its absolute discretion and without giving reasons.
The Promoter may share entrant information, including name and contact details, with other persons or entities that assist in running the promotion.
The Promoter reserves the right, at any time, to verify the validity of entries and determine the eligibility of entrants (including an entrant’s identity and age) and to disqualify an entry or refuse to award a prize where false or misleading details have been given by an entrant, or where an entrant has behaved in a fraudulent or dishonest manner, or otherwise than in accordance with these terms and conditions or the spirit of the promotion.
By entering this Promotion, entrants agree to the use of their names, photographs, and likeness for promotional/advertising purposes without charge, and agree to make themselves reasonable available for this purpose. The ensuing copyright will rest with the Promotor, without any claim to compensation from the entrants.
The prize will be presented at a time and place arranged by the Promoter. Arrangement may, at the discretion of the Promoter, be made to deliver the prize to an address in New Zealand.
Entrants acknowledge and agree that he or she will comply with all instructions given by employees of the Promoter and other agencies associated with this promotion and agree not to do anything that may bring the Promotor into disrepute.
Entrants agree that as a condition of receiving the prize, he or she may be required to execute a waiver and indemnity in the form provided by the Promoter.
If an entrant cannot accept the prize for any reason, and does not wish to transfer it to another person, that prize will be void and no compensation will be payable.
Failure by the Promoter, to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.
All decisions made by the Promoter, its employees or agents are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Promotor may amend, suspend or cancel any aspect of the promotion (including any prize/gift) at any time at its sole discretion.
Except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, the Promotor (including its officers, directors, shareholders, employees, advisors, assignees, agents, licensees, representatives, advertising and promotional agencies), excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity), whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of the Promotion.
As a condition of participating in the promotion, the entrants indemnify the Promoter, all organisers, sponsors and all other persons and organisations associated in any way with the promotion against all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including legal fees on a solicitor and client basis) which an entrant may incur arising out of their participation in the promotion and/or the travel and tour associated with it, howsoever caused.
The Promoter collects and holds personal information provided by entrants for the purposes of this promotion, and to advise details of further promotions by mail, email or texts. You will always be given the right to opt out of receiving further communications. Failure to provide requested personal information may disqualify a person from entering this competition. All personal information provided by entrants will be held by the Promotor at the address specified in clause 28 below. Under the Privacy Act 2020, entrants have the right to access and correct any such personal information. Entrants may access and request correction of any of the details about them held by the Promoter by sending an email to info@wildlifehospitaldunedin.org.nz.
The Promoter is The Wildlife Hospital Trust.
