Kangaroo Island Penguin Center to close

 August 7, 2013

 

The Kangaroo Island Penguin Center is being forced to close due to an alarming drop in bird numbers, which its owner mostly blames on predatory New Zealand fur seal colonies.

John Ayliffe says the center has a closing date of November 30, but he may have to bring the date forward due to the dramatic decline of the little penguin numbers.

The centre opened in 2000, although other operators conducted penguin tours some years before then, Mr Ayliffe told AAP on Wednesday.

He used to see up to 60 penguins on the nightly tours, but now it's as few as one or two although it recently was around 10 due to breeding.

A decade ago the little penguin colonies numbered hundreds but now he says there are about 20 birds.

The numbers also have plummeted at other SA sites, including Granite Island, south of Adelaide.
Mr Ayliffe believes many of the penguins are being eaten by the New Zealand fur seals, which he says are also endangering cuttlefish and King George Whiting.

"I believe there is absolutely no choice but to manage the seals," he says.

He's unsuccessfully sought permission to "harass" them - perhaps by firing beanbags or rubber bullets - to keep the seals away from Kingscote.

As well as effecting his business, Mr Ayliffe says the decline affects the environment and the island's tourism industry which markets the iconic penguins as one of its draw cards.

But while the state's Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources agrees the little penguin colonies in South Australia are in decline, it says the cause is not yet fully understood.

A spokeswoman says possible causes include predation by introduced species such as dogs, foxes, cats and rats, habitat loss and disturbance by people visiting the colonies.

Other possibilities include parasites, fluctuations in the availability of bait fish and even seawater flooding of nest sites during storms.

And while fur seals do eat seabirds, including penguins, the spokeswoman says it is not their primary source of food.

"New Zealand fur seals are a protected native species and their numbers are only now starting to recover after intensive hunting that lasted from 1788 until 1948," she said.

"The South Australian Government does not support culling fur seals.

"Attempts made overseas and interstate to relocate seals or scare them away have had little success. The same seals return or are replaced by other animals."

A study is currently being carried out to try to find out why the colonies are in decline.

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