Rare yellow-eyed penguin/BBC
In New Zealand, the title of “Bird of the Year” was awarded to a rare yellow-eyed penguin, also called hoiho. More than 6,000 people cast their votes for him.
This is reported by the BBC publication.
The bird is considered one of the rarest species of penguin in the world, which can only be found in Novaya Zeeland. The organization, Forest & Bird, which runs the contest, announced that the yellow-eyed penguin won with 6,328 votes. The penguin was defeated by the chatham's toutowai bird from Karure Chatham island, gaining more than 5 thousand votes.
Chatham's Toutowai
According to Forest & Bird, the victory will help preserve the population of these birds. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, this is an endangered species – its number is decreasing. Efforts are made to preserve them on land, but they are also needed in the sea.
They are drowning in nets that have been set up and cannot find enough food. Our hoijo urgently need marine protected areas to enable them to survive, said Forest & Bird Executive Director Ms Toki.
This is the second time a yellow-eyed penguin has won the competition. He won his first victory in 2019, that year they talked about the influence on the results of Russia, because hundreds of votes for the bird came from the Russian Federation. Although Forest & Bird stated that these are probably not fraudulent voices, but voices of Russian ornithologists.