Photo: Penguin Animal Hospital Dunedin New Zealand

A woman takes care of an orphaned Yellow-Eyed Penguin at Penguin Place Hospital near Dunedin, New Zealand and will continue to tend to this animal until it is ready to fend for itself.

Back in 1985, Penguin Place was first founded and at this time there were only eight breeding pairs of Yellow-Eyed Penguins near Dunedin, New Zealand. In 2006, the number had risen to nineteen pairs creating a medium sized colony for each penguin that hangs around this coastline of New Zealand.

Tour guides will take you on a ninety minute expedition to the colony to see the penguins in their natural environment. There are covered areas that camouflage visitors as the Yellow-Eyed Penguins scare easily and are not partial to any noise that is unknown. The quieter that you can be while viewing the penguin colony, the better for yourself and everyone involved so that the penguins can go about their daily business without any interruptions.

A Penguin Hospital is set up for any of the penguins that may be sick or have gotten lost in their journey and trained professionals take care of each animal that needs extra care and attention to be sure it is looked after. ... continue below the picture...

This picture is part of the photo album "Animal Pictures" - there are more beautiful images waiting for you.

... This woman feeds a juvenile penguin to ensure that it will grow properly and when this animal has matured enough, a scientist will check it over before setting it free with the rest of the colony.

The Penguin Animal Hospital is not open to the public but some of the proceeds from the guided tours to the colony are set aside to help keep the hospital alive for the less fortunate penguins that need a little extra tender, loving care.

A trip to Penguin Place to see each animal as they disembark from the water near Dunedin, New Zealand is worth the hike but it is not recommended for everybody. The walk can be fairly strenuous and uphill for a ways which can be very tiresome for those who are not reasonably fit or for little ones that their legs tire easily.

To be able to watch these Yellow-Eyed Penguins make their way up the beach each day in their natural habitat is an experience that one will never forget while visiting New Zealand.

Tour guide from the Penguin Place feeding an orphaned Yellow-Eyed Penguin Chick, Megadyptes antipodes, at the Penguin Place Hospital, Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, East Coast, South Island, New Zealand.