A New home for penguins

SHAUNA BLACK

11 Feb, 2010 04:35 PM

Works have begun on a new $40,000 habitat for Little Penguins on the southern side of the Kingscote Wharf.Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre owners John Ayliffe and Jenny Clapson received approval for the works from the Kangaroo Island Council in 2007 and recently secured a grant of $13,000 from the Federal Government’s Envirofund, with the help of the Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Board, to help establish the new colony.

The land is owned by the Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure and the new colony is approved under the centre’s licence. Material was excavated from the site last weekend and it is planned to drill holes into the walls of the excavated area to create burrows. Mr Ayliffe said the new site would be an asset to the town and to tourists. “We’ve had up to 180 people on a penguin tour and it’s just too crowded on the north side. This provides us with another option and provides a more sheltered site when northerly winds are blowing,” he said.

The area will include a walkway, 700 new plants and eventually artwork. “All the new plants have been grown from seed collected here and we would like to restore the area to be as natural as possible,” Ms Clapson said. “In three to four years’ time it will be a lovely place.”

Meanwhile, the centre has made the difficult decision to close its tours during February when there are few chicks in the colony and most birds are out to sea fishing. “We’ve always kept it open to cater for the tourism industry but other tour centres close down in February and we thought it was the best thing to do this year,” Mr Ayliffe said. “The colony suffered some setbacks last year and there are not many birds around at
the moment.”

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