Waitaha penguin (SciiFii)

The Waitaha penguin (Megadyptes waitaha) is a species of New Zealand penguin that was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and reintroduced to New Zealand to help boost biodiversity. They are closely relate to the yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), a species that has been threatened since human settlement. However, Waitaha penguins are around 10% smaller than the yellow-eyed penguin. and the yellow crown is faded with light gray colors instead of just yellow. The Waitaha penguin is mostly silent, however, It makes a shrill bray-like call at nest and breeding sites. Around 90% of the Waitaha penguin's diet is made up of fish, chiefly demersal species that live near the seafloor (e.g. blue cod (Parapercis colias), red cod (Pseudophycis bachus), opalfish (Hemerocoetes monopterygius)). Other species taken are New Zealand blueback sprat (Sprattus antipodum) and cephalopods such as arrow squid (Nototodarus sloanii). Recently, jellyfish were found to be targeted by the penguins.

Breeding penguins usually undertake two kinds of foraging trips: day trips where the birds leave at dawn and return in the evening ranging up to 25 km from their colonies, and shorter evening trips during which the birds are seldom away from their nest longer than four hours or range farther than 7 km. Waitaha penguins are known to be an almost exclusive benthic forager that searches for prey along the seafloor. Accordingly, up to 90% of their dives are benthic dives. This also means that their average dive depths are determined by the water depths within their home ranges.

The breeding season of Waitaha penguins occurs in the summer of New Zealand, beginning in early September and ending in late January. Waitaha penguins begin reproducing in the age range of five to nine years old. To court females, single males stand erect with their wings spread out and pumping their chest. It is likely that the pairs remain faithful to each other for more than one season. The pairs then build a nest, most of the work being done by the male. The female lays two to four eggs, typically about three to five days apart, which hatch 31–37 days later. The second laid egg is up to 85 percent larger than the first and also hatches first. The smaller, last-hatched chick is outcompeted by its siblings and usually does not survive, also called "siblicide". Egg-size dimorphism is particularly large in Waitaha penguins, and the larger egg hatching first only accentuates the sibling size difference.

The conservation status of the Waitaha penguin is Vulnerable due to habitat degradation and introduced predators, however, thanks to conservationists, both the Waitaha penguins and their natural habitats are protected and the invasive species such as mice, rats, cats, and mustelids have since been eradicated completely from New Zealand.