WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It's noisy, smelly, shy — and New Zealand's bird of the year.
The huihu, or yellow-eyed penguin, won the country's hotly contested avian election on Monday, giving the endangered bird's advocates hope that recognition could lead to the species' recovery.
It followed a campaign for the annual Bird of the Year vote that was free of the foreign interference scandals and fraud controversies of past elections. Instead, campaigners in the long-running contest sought votes in the usual ways — starting meme wars, enlisting celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty.
More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late-night host John Oliver ran a humorous campaign For the pūteketeke — a “very strange bird” that eats and vomits its own feathers — a landslide win.
This year, the number of votes cast represented 1% of New Zealand's population – a country where nature is never far away and where Love local birds Instilled in citizens from childhood.
“Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for fourth-place Roro, a little brown owl with a sad voice. New Zealand's only native mammals are bats and marine species, highlighting its beloved – and often rare – birds.
This year's winner, Hoihu — his name means “noise shooter” in Maori — is a shy bird considered the world's rarest penguin. Found only on New Zealand's South and Chatham Islands – and the subantarctic islands south of the country – numbers have declined by an alarming 78 per cent in the past 15 years.
“This spotlight couldn't come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from mainland Aotearoa before our eyes,” Nicola Tucci, chief executive of Forest and Bird – the polling organization – told New Zealand. said in a press release using a Maori name. Despite intensive conservation efforts on land, the birds end up in nets and drown in the sea and do not get enough food, he said.
“The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it will lead to tangible support,” said Hoiho's campaign manager Charlie Buchan. But while the bird has struggled, it has attracted star billing in the pool: celebrity endorsements from English zoologist Jane Goodall, Amazing Race host Phil Keoughan, and two former New Zealand prime ministers. Happened from
Aspiring birding organizers – this year from power companies to high school students – submit applications to Forest & Bird for the posts. The Hohio bid was launched by wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in the city of Dunedin, where the bird is found on New Zealand's mainland, making it the most powerful campaign for the 2024 vote. .
“I feel like we were pretty much the underdogs,” said Emily Bull, a spokeswoman for the runner-up campaign, for the krover — a small, “goth” black robin found only on New Zealand's Chatham Island.
Crore's bid was directed by the students' association at Victoria University of Wellington, which sparked violent clashes on the college's campus when the student magazine ran an anti-campaign for Korora, or the Little Blue Penguin. It was played.
The rivalry sparked a meme war and students in bird costumes. Many people have tattoos. When the magazine's campaign won endorsements from the city council and the local zoo, Bill became desperate for Black Robin's bid.
But the karure – which has made a real comeback since the 1980s, with conservation efforts increasing the species from five birds to 250 – finished second overall.
As Rawson wrapped up his campaign for Roro this weekend, he took his efforts directly to the people, voting at a local dog park. The veteran campaign manager, who has directed bids for other birds in previous years, was rewarded by Roro finishing fourth in the poll, his best ever result.
“I've never been in a humanitarian political campaign before,” said Rawson, who is drawn to the pageant because of the funds and awareness it generates. He added that the campaign took a more relaxed approach this year.
“There was no international intervention, although it was actually a lot of fun,” he said, referring to Oliver's high-profile campaign.
This was not the only controversy in the elections. While anyone in the world can vote, Forrest & Bird now requires candidates to verify their ballots, a challenge previously faced by foreign interference. In 2018, Australian pranksters cast hundreds of fake votes for Shag.
The following year, Forest & Bird was forced to clarify that the vote-off from Russia appeared to be from legitimate bird-lovers.
While the campaigns are fiercely competitive, managers described the strategy more from pro wrestling — in which fights are scripted — than from divisive political contests.
“Sometimes people want to make posts that are like beef with you and they'll always message you and be like, hey, is it okay if I post this?” Bell said. “It's a really lovely community. It's really healthy.”
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This story corrects the 1% percentage instead of the 10%.