Tourism and little penguins: a comparative study of survival and reproductive parameters

Context. Tourism operations that provide the opportunity for wildlife viewing can support conservation management through public education, habitat protection, population management, research activities and revenue generation. However, alongside these potential benefits there can be negative effects on the species that include the possibility of reduced breeding success, survival and, subsequently, population growth. Aim. We sought to establish whether a tourism operation affected little penguins Eudyptula minor by comparing reproductive and survival parameters of two managed populations in Oamaru, New Zealand. One population was the focus of a tourism operation, whereas the other (located nearby) did not provide any public access. The tourism operation implemented strategies to reduce human disturbance, including the reduction of noise, light and movement from visitors during viewing, and by ensuring that visitors were restricted to designated viewing areas. Methods. Nesting boxes were installed at both colonies that facilitated weekly monitoring of the populations. The monitoring program (1993-2017) included weekly checks of every nesting box in the colony for the presence of eggs, chicks and adults. Chicks were weighed before fledging, and both fledglings and breeding adults were individually marked. Key results. Lay dates, breeding success, chick fledge mass and survival rates were not measurably different between the two populations, indicating that there was little evidence of negative effects on the penguins at the tourist site. Conclusions. The slight differences observed between the colonies during the time series were attributed to environmental damage sustained at the non-tourist site and a difference in the proportion of un-monitored nest sites available to the penguins when the study was initiated.