Little penguins killed on Middle Island

Posted January 13, 2010 11:47:00

• Map: Warrnambool 3280

The Warrnambool City Council is calling for witnesses to the killing of four little penguin chicks on Middle Island. The environmental officer, David Williams, found two dead chicks yesterday and noticed their nesting boxes had been overturned and there were empty beer bottles nearby. He says two missing birds are probably dead.

People are banned from the island to protect its penguin colony. Mr Williams says there have been trespassers before. "We have had people trespassing a little bit but mostly they're just having a look around," he said. "There's probably been about three or four times this year we've found a couple of boxes overturned but I think people are just wanting to have a look under there and sort of going that little bit too far but they don't realise that once these little birds are disturbed sometimes they leave that area."

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