Penguin Cove ‘newbie’ Maggie has taken out the competition to be crowned Penguin of the Year for 2024.
The 15 residents of the National Aquarium of New Zealand’s Penguin Cove vie for public votes in Penguin of the Year, which attracts attention from penguin fans all over the world. The fun competition is now in its seventh year.
Supervisor of Birds, Rebekah Cuthbert said Maggie was a strong contender all the way through the competition from both online and onsite voting platforms.
“Maggie and Mo were head-to-head right the way through the voting period, but Maggie was a favourite from our onsite visitors at Penguin Cove, and that gave her the winning edge,” she said.
Total votes were 3,971 with 886 of those cast by visitors onsite at the National Aquarium.
Maggie received 497 votes and Mo 447. Draco came in third place with 382 votes.
“We’ve enjoyed reading all the comments from our voters. A lot of people relate to the penguins’ personalities, which we find quite amusing,” says Ms Cuthbert.
“During Penguin of the Year we are able to spread more awareness about what people can do to help little penguins along the coast lines of New Zealand. This includes simple actions like keeping dogs on leads to minimise the risk to wildlife and picking up rubbish when they are visiting the beach.”
People across the world get involved with Penguin of the Year with votes coming in from United States of America and Australia, as well as Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, Ireland, India, Poland, Portugal, Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
More about Maggie
Maggie was abandoned when she was just a few days old. She was hand-raised by the team here at the National Aquarium and has settled in well to the Penguin Cove lifestyle. She loves swimming in the pool and is always chatting away to the other penguins around. At feeding time she loves the opportunity to hang out with the keepers and will head over to say hello even if she isn’t feeling particularly hungry.
