Shy penguin wins New Zealand bird election after campaign filled with memes and tattoos

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It’s noisy, smelly, shy — and it’s New Zealand’s bird of the year.

The huihu, or yellow-eyed penguin, won the country’s hotly contested election on Monday, giving hope to supporters of the endangered bird that recognition of its victory could lead to a revival of the species.

It came after the annual Bird of the Year voting campaign was largely devoid of the scandals of foreign interference and controversies over past election fraud. Instead, participants in the long-running contest sought votes in the usual ways — launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty.

More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, about 300,000 fewer than last year, when British TV presenter John Oliver was the first to vote. led a humorous campaign For the potikitiki bird — a “very strange bird” that eats and regurgitates its own feathers — it has won a landslide.

This year, the number of votes cast represented 10% of the population of New Zealand – a country where nature is never far away and where love local birds It is instilled in citizens from childhood.

“Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for fourth-placed little brown owl Ruru, which makes a melancholic sound. New Zealand’s only native mammals are bats and marine species, putting the spotlight on its beloved – and often rare – birds.

This year’s winner was the Hoiho – meaning “noisy” in Maori – a shy bird believed to be the world’s rarest penguin. Found only on New Zealand’s South and Chatham Islands – and the islands south of Antarctica – its numbers have declined dramatically, by 78% in the past 15 years.

“This spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from the Aotearoa mainland before our eyes,” said Nicola Tuckey, chief executive of Forest and Bird, which runs the survey, in a press release, using the Maori name for New Zealand. Despite intensive conservation efforts on land, the birds are drowning in nets and at sea and are unable to find enough food, she added.

“The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it will bring tangible support,” said Charlie Buchan, Huihu’s campaign manager. But while the bird is struggling, it has attracted a number of stars in the polls: it has received celebrity endorsements from English zoologist Jane Goodall, Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan and two former New Zealand prime ministers.

Aspiring bird campaign managers – this year from energy companies to high school students – are applying to Forest & Bird for positions. The hoiho campaign is run by a group of wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in Dunedin, where the bird is found on the New Zealand mainland, making it the most powerful campaign in the 2024 vote.

Emily Paul, spokeswoman for the campaign that placed second in the qualifying race for the race, said…

The korori display was directed by the Students’ Association at Victoria University of Wellington, sparking a fierce skirmish on campus when the student magazine organised an opposition campaign against the korori, or little blue penguin.

The competition sparked a meme war, with students dressing up as birds. Many got tattoos of the bird. When the magazine campaign gained support from the city council and the local zoo, Paul gave up on trying to get the black bird.

But the karoo – which has made a real comeback since the 1980s, with conservation efforts boosting the species’ numbers from five birds to 250 – came in second place overall.

This weekend, as Rawson wrapped up her campaign for Roro, she took her efforts directly to the people, seeking votes at her local dog park. The veteran campaign manager, who has managed other bird bids in past years, rewarded Roro with a fourth-place vote, her best result ever.

“I’ve never been involved in human political campaigns before,” said Rawson, who is drawn to the pageant for the money and awareness it generates, adding that the campaign has taken a more subdued tone this year.

“There was no international involvement, although it was very interesting,” she said, referring to Oliver’s high-profile campaign.

This wasn’t the only controversy in the election. While anyone in the world can vote, Forest & Bird now requires voters to verify their ballots after foreign interference spoiled the contest before. In 2018, Australian fraudsters cast hundreds of fraudulent lesbian votes.

The following year, Forest and Bird had to clarify that a wave of sounds coming from Russia appeared to be from legitimate bird lovers.

Although election campaigns are highly competitive, managers described the tactics as more like professional wrestling — where fights are planned — than divisive political contests.

“Sometimes people want to post things that are kind of like your violent posts, and they always send you messages like, ‘Is it okay for me to post this?’” Paul said. “There’s a really nice community. It’s really helpful.”