news, local-news,

Research is underway at Low Head to understand the extent of damage dealt to the fairy penguin population in the wake of a series of dog attacks in the area. BirdLife Tasmania will commence a mapping survey of penguin colonies around the peninsula. Convener for BirdLife Tasmania Dr Eric Woehler will be undertaking the survey. He said that the primary goal of the survey is to gauge the current population of fairy penguins in the area to determine how best to protect them. "We're all concerned that the penguin colony may actually have shrunk as a result of those dog attacks," Dr Woehler said. "We don't have a current population estimate for the colony which is why we're here - we're going to map the extent of the colony and we'll do some survey's towards breeding season." There have been more than 100 fairy penguin deaths in the Low Head area alone in the past two years, according to Dr Woehler. He said that a number of projects are being done around Tasmania, including Bruny Island and the East Coast to combat penguin deaths in those areas. "For each of the colonies we need to establish what core issue is threatening penguins," Dr Woehler said. "We know full well that with the dog attacks here, dog and dog management is a major issue for the local penguin colony. "If we know, for example, that a penguin colony overlaps with a dog exercise area we will certainly be making that recommendation to the council to reconsider the boundaries of dog exercise areas." The battle to protect the penguin populations in Low Head is being spearheaded by the Friends of the Low Head Penguin Colony community group, which was started after a community forum was held in March by Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson. Mr Whish-Wilson said it was exciting to see a community group stand up and take ownership of a really important issue. "It's a community working with experts and decision-makers, from local government through to state and federal pulling together their resources and tackling a big issue," he said. "There have been way too many fairy penguins killed in recent years, hundreds on this coastline alone. "Parks and Wildlife themselves say on their website that the fairy penguin wild population in Tasmania risks extinction in the next century if we don't do something to relieve pressure on these little fellas." Mr Whish-Wilson added that tougher laws should be introduced for owners of dogs that kill penguins. "If your dog kills a penguin you've got to know about it," he said.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/3B72qydidMFMQauYsR6jUqC/1d6e3aef-b9a7-4f28-a87a-844b3a48bcb8.jpg/r0_141_3216_1958_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg