{"id":173312,"date":"2019-11-11T22:49:14","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T14:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1809988\/"},"modified":"2019-11-11T22:49:14","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T14:49:14","slug":"yellow-eyed-penguin-is-2019s-new-zealand-bird-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/test\/wordpress\/2019\/11\/11\/yellow-eyed-penguin-is-2019s-new-zealand-bird-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-Eyed Penguin Is 2019\u2019s New Zealand Bird of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Yellow-eyed penguin. (Photo Credit: Brent Beaven \/ New Zealand Department of Conservation)<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The people have spoken: The endangered yellow-eyed penguin has been named New Zealand’s Bird of the Year 2019<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also known as hoiho or tarakaka, the endemic species<\/a> received the most “number one” votes in a country-wide election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Described<\/a> by <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i> as an “antisocial penguin that communicates by screaming,” the animal won 12,022 out of 43,460 verified votes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is more than three times as many hoiho are left on the planet: 1,700 pairs, between mainland New Zealand and the sub-Antarctic islands.<\/span><\/p>\n

The penguins\u2014the world’s most endangered\u2014are on track for local extinction within 40 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

An infectious outbreak in the mid-2000s played a large role in the population’s decline, though human activity (fishing, pollution<\/a>) has an equal (if not greater) influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Sadly, many of New Zealand’s native birds are in crisis,” Forest & Bird, the independent conservation group that runs the poll, wrote on its website. “Two-thirds of our birds are threatened with extinction.”<\/span><\/p>\n

An annual celebration of the country’s unique fowl, Bird of the Year helps “give them a voice.”<\/span><\/p>\n

This is more than a silly census, though: The poll is taken so seriously, <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i> reported, that competing campaigns invested in full-size billboard ads and voters were forced to validate their identities.<\/span><\/p>\n

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