The boxes were built by 16 Fisher & Paykel staff, most of whom were engineers, and four staff from Mitre 10, which provided the materials.
The project was one of several community-focused projects Fisher & Paykel staff worked on yesterday as part of the company’s sustainability-focused annual volunteer day. Mitre 10 staff helped out with the penguin nest work as as part of its Helping Hands programme.
The boxes were delivered to Penguin Place, on the Otago Peninsula, in the afternoon, just in time to be used by the conservation reserve’s newest arrival — a yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho) chick which had hatched only that very morning.
Penguin Place rehabilitation and monitoring manager Jason van Zanten said the team was grateful for the new boxes, which would be used by the penguins to shelter from the weather and stay hidden from the prying eyes of their winged neighbours.
"The penguins are very private. They like a place to hide, and these A-frame boxes are their favourite."
Elise Fairholm, engineer and site sustainability lead for Fisher & Paykel, said the day had exceeded expectations.
"It’s been brilliant. At the start, we promised to make 50 boxes, but we weren’t sure exactly how many we were going to get through. We’d never done anything like it before. So, to get to the end of the day and have finished them, right on time, it was such a great feeling."
Mitre 10 marketing manager Amy Wilson said the team was looking forward to heading out to Penguin Place to see the wildlife they had provided homes for.
"Hopefully there’s a lot of happy penguins out there today."
The yellow eyed-penguin is endangered in New Zealand, with a population of between 500 and 600 in the country.
