Vandals blamed for death of two penguin chicks on Middle Island, near Warrnambool

Anne Wright
From: Herald Sun
January 13, 2010 12:00AM

A baby penguin. Picture: Andrew Batsch Source: Herald Sun

VANDALS who destroyed the nesting boxes of penguin chicks on an island near Warrnambool have been blamed for their deaths.

Two chicks have died and four are missing after trespassers illegally went on to Middle Island, trashing the birds' habitats and trampling on their burrows.

Warrnambool City Council's environment officer, David Williams, said there had been two incidents in the past month where people had disturbed the boxes and the penguins had died as a result. "It's a slap in the face for the Warrnambool community," he said.

Mr Williams said the penguin colony had almost been decimated by foxes in 2005 when the population fell to just four.

But since people were banned from the island and trained Maremma dogs were brought in to guard the penguins, the population had soared to 120, he said.

Mr Williams said it was possible the incidents were premeditated but he hoped it was simply the ignorance of people who didn't realise the chicks would die in the sun. "Education is our best hope. We will install some more cameras but really we hope people just wise up."

Source