The Department of Conservation's discovered a stoat or ferret on a feeding frenzy's responsible for the death of 29 Little Blue Penguins.

The bodies of nearly 30 little penguins were found at Doctors Point near Dunedin on Saturday - an autopsy's revealed they died from lethal wounds by possibly just one ferret or stoat.

Dunedin conservation services manger David Agnew says the loss of so many feisty penguins has a huge impact on their declining population.

He says it's another reminder of how vulnerable the birds are.