SO LONG, PENGUINS: Granite Island Penguin Interpretive Centre manager Dorothy Longden hands the two Little Penguin chicks to Flinders University's Leslie Morrison on Friday, February 14.
Little Penguins adopted at Flinders University
VICTOR HARBOR - The adoption of two of Granite Island’s Little Penguins by Flinders University could help solve the mystery of the decline in the local Little Penguin population. The two penguins, known as Aly and Kai, were picked up by university representatives on Friday, February 14.
Granite Island Penguin Interpretive Center manager Dorothy Longden said the chicks were bred in late 2013, and hatched on December 27. Dorothy nursed them from three-weeks-old because their parents were not feeding them enough. Aly and Kai were bred with special permission at the center for Flinders University’s three-story ‘eco-dome,’ connected to the Biology Discovery Center animal behavior laboratories.
They will be used for observational-based research at the university, aimed at finding the reason behind the decline of Little Penguins on Granite Island over the past decade.
In 2001, 1548 penguins were counted around Granite Island in a penguin census. In the 2012 census, numbers had fallen to just 26. The birds’ numbers somewhat stabilised in 2013, with 38 recorded.
The penguins’ primary carer at Flinders, biological sciences animal house manager Leslie Morrison, said they will be most helpful to students studying the university’s animal behavior degree. “We’ve been doing research for the last year,” she said. “We’ve got all their native grasses and burrows in there so it all looks familiar to them.”
The eco-dome also features a penguin pond developed with Flinders biology student Simon Brown, the architect and designer behind Melbourne Zoo’s award-winning penguin enclosure.
Flinders animal behavior professor Sonia Kleindorfer said the penguins will be monitored by animal facility staff, while a vet is also on call, to ensure a smooth transition into their new home. “Penguins are robust creatures and we are confident they will settle in and adapt well to their new surroundings,” she said.
City of Victor Harbor mayor Graham Philp, who has been campaigning for further research into the decline of Little Penguins on Granite Island for about 12 months, said more than $12,000 has been raised to assist research.
While the center was originally designed to be a rehabilitation center for the Little Penguins, rather than a breeding ground, Mr Philp said the permission to breed two penguins, granted last year, was a break-through which occurred with the support of the university.
To facilitate the breeding, Mr Philp met with representatives from the City of Victor Harbor, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources’ (DEWNR) Victor Harbor and Adelaide offices, Flinders University and the company which has control of the lease of the north shore of Granite Island. “At this meeting it was approved by DEWNR administration to allow the Granite Island penguin center to breed two penguins that would then go to Flinders University so that they may start their research program into the behavior of Little Penguins,” he said. “The penguins, thanks to Flinders University, will be able to be studied more thoroughly instead of the hit and miss approach, which is sending out students at different times of the year to obtain data.”
Mr Philp said the pair will be monitored 24/7, providing invaluable information to researchers. “This monitoring of penguins has never been able to occur and so there will be a lot of useful behavioral matters that hopefully will be identified. I am very much in favor of this style of research,” he said. “I think it also important that the animals are in a situation where they will be able to be monitored with very little interaction with the students. This will reduce the stress for the animals, but ensure that the data is about as natural as possible. “I would like to personally thank Flinders University, in particular the staff associated with the animal behavior project, for their passion and support in regards to Little Penguins. “To assist in finding a solution to the problem Flinders University were recently awarded a contract to count the number of penguins in our area and obtain DNA samples from these penguins. “On Granite Island, the initial indication of the numbers may have indicated that there was an improvement in the numbers, but this is still to be substantiated.”
A report will be released in March with the findings. “Once all the information is collated we will then have a very clear picture as to the numbers of Little Penguins in our immediate area,” Mr Philp said. “More importantly we may be able to find a way forward that will not only benefit our population on Granite Island but also the other penguin colonies in the Gulf area, including Kangaroo Island. “It should be remembered that if we lose our wild colony of penguins we will more than likely lose the penguins in the penguin center due to natural attrition. There will be no penguins left in our area to replenish their numbers.”
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