Last dotterel affected by Rena spill dies

MURRAY WILSON/Fairfax NZ

SAD ENDING: Dotty, the last dotterel at Massey University's wildlife centre, died this week.

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The last native New Zealand dotterel kept in captivity after the Rena oil spill has died.

Dotty, a female dotterel, was one of 60 dotterels taken from the wild in October after the container ship Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga.

The ship released 350 tonnes of oil into the sea, killing thousands of birds and leaving several hundred more oiled and in desperate need of help. The endangered dotterels were brought into captivity as a precaution, before the oil reached their habitat.

While most were returned to Maketu Spit late last year Dotty was brought to Massey University in Palmerston North because she had a respiratory infection.

She was one of a number of dotterels suffering from the infection, and several had already died. However Dotty was on a new course of treatment and appeared to be responding well until this week.

Wildlife veterinarian Janelle Ward said Dotty's white blood cell count was high, which was an indicator of ill health. But after the initial post-mortem, it was determined the respiratory disease was not what had killed her.

"There were fungal lesions but they were healing," she said. "She was in really good body condition and there was no obvious cause of death."

Ms Ward said Dotty's death had come as a shock and was "very depressing" after keeping her for so many months. "She was doing quite well so it was a bit of a shock – she outwardly seemed to be improving."

A pathologist would further investigate Dotty's cause of death, with results due in the next week or so.

There were still 25 penguins at the Massey wildlife centre, with another one expected to join them at the weekend.

All of the penguins had been washed, apart from the pending new addition, and between six and nine were expected to be released in Tauranga on Monday.

Ms Ward said some final checks were being carried out on the penguins, which would determine how many could be released.

One lightly oiled penguin and one petrel had been found in Tauranga and were to be brought to Palmerston North.

- © Fairfax NZ News