Cute Yellow Eyed Penguins!

One of the tours conducted by the Monarch Wildlife Cruises in my New Zealand 12 day tour is visit to the yellow eyed penguin reserve also known as the Penguin Place at Dunedin. While in the reserve, a guide will lead you on foot through a unique system of covered trenches into viewing hides that allows access to the living areas and breeding grounds of this shy penguin, which provides the opportunity to witness and photograph undisturbed activity at close range.

Within the Penguin Place, there is also a small hospital that cares for injured penguins. When I visited the place, there is a penguin being treated for abrasions to its leg. Below is a picture of that injured penguin.

Fiordland crested penguin (I think)

We also had a chance to see the penguins beach themselves from the sea. Below is a picture of such a penguin.

Yellow-eyed penguin approaching the beach

As the yellow-eyed penguin is endangered, some help was given to the penguins in terms of providing shelter and breeding grounds. Below is such a wooden shelter being built to aid the survival of the penguins.

Shelter for the yellow-eyed penguin

Below are some of the photos that I've taken around the reserves. It is possible to spend the whole day with them without getting tired of their unique calls and weird walking behaviors. :)

Yellow-eyed penguin walking towards its shelter

Yellow-eyed penguin taking a rest

One of the penguins climbing up a hill

Weird walking style of the penguin. :)