Talking Point: Penguins are in need of protection

ERIC WOEHLER: GOVERNMENTS need to spend money to properly look after our natural assets which attract tourists to the state in the first place.

Disturbing the burrows of Little Penguins can have devastating effects on the colony. Picture: JUSTIN LLOYD

THE current spate of overseas visitors digging out Little Penguins from their burrows to obtain their trophy “selfie” with a penguin in hand presents several serious risks to the penguins and their colonies around Tasmania.

The first is the obvious physical damage to the nesting burrow and the adjacent vegetation within the colony.

Penguins rely on burrows in the ground and/or under vegetation — disturbance from keen visitors eager to literally get their hands on a penguin can result in the collapse of the burrow, and the subsequent loss of suitable breeding habitat.

Even opening vegetation to provide access to the burrow entrance or to the penguins presents serious risks to the integrity of the colony, as the vegetation is critical to the cohesion of the soil and for providing protection to nesting and moulting penguins. Removing vegetation will result in increased erosion and a greater risk of nest abandonment by the penguins.

Depending on the extent of excavation, the burrow could become unsuitable for nesting, resulting in breeding failure. If the excavation occurs during moult after the breeding season, the penguins lose a secure site safe from predators, increasing its risk of predation. If the excavation occurs during the non-breeding season, the birds are disturbed and their burrow damaged.

The second risk linked to disturbing the burrows is the less obvious physiological distress. Disturbance to nesting and moulting penguins can easily lead to breeding failure and nest abandonment.

Early work in the 1950s clearly showed penguins (and shearwaters) were less sensitive to red light compared to white light, and this early research remains the basis for all discussions and recommendations by Birdlife Tasmania to commercial operators throughout Tasmania to use red light/red cellophane at penguin colonies to reduce the impact of foreign light at night times.

The use of a very bright white-light flash at night from a mobile phone or tablet would be severe on a penguin — resulting in immediate blindness and an unknown time until its nocturnal vision was restored. If placed on the ground away from its burrow entrance, there is likely to be an increased risk of predation for the penguin until vision returned and/or inside a burrow.

Venturing into a neighbour’s burrow results in twice as much disturbance — not only the handled penguin but also its neighbours are impacted by the actions of the human visitors. Given the presence of feral cats, dogs, rats and possums in the Neck colony (and indeed, at most penguin colonies in Tasmania), any such encounter between a penguin and visitor must increase the risk to the bird of predation or injury. In combination, the presence of humans inside the colony and associated physical damage to the colony substrate and vegetation, and the biological distress and disturbance to penguins (and the increased risk of injury and death) can only push the colony and the breeding population towards a rapid extinction — and the loss of an iconic commercial feature for Bruny Island.

While the State Government lauds the increase in tourism and the associated commercial benefits to Tasmanian businesses, there is a conspicuous absence of any commitment, let alone resources, to protect Tasmania’s precious and remarkable wildlife — the very wildlife that is the major drawcard for visitors to Tasmania.

The Parks and Wildlife Service has lost the staff and critical resources required to protect Tasmania’s wildlife, and their work programs have been “re-prioritised” to supporting tourism, rather than protecting Tasmania’s unique biodiversity. It’s all about the “visitor experience” and as long as they leave happy, all is well as far as the Government is concerned.

Unless and until the Government commits to protecting Tasmania’s wildlife, rather than looking the other way, and the critical resources are provided to Parks staff to protect our wildlife, the wildlife will remain at high risk from visitors to Tasmania.

Clearly, the current circumstances are not sustainable. While most visitors will declare their intention to “do the right thing”, they also know the chances of being caught and prosecuted are nil with the complete absence of PWS staff on the ground, so the temptation to sneak in and grab a penguin for the trophy selfie is challenging to resist.

Yet again, the Government’s lack of interest in protecting Tasmania’s wildlife is a sad indictment and a clear indication of their priorities. The Government is willing to support logging and forestry operations on Bruny Island with undue haste, yet the industry that provides greater opportunity and is sustainable if managed appropriately is left to wither.

Tasmania’s Little Penguins now have a less-synchronised breeding season than in the past. Surveys by Birdlife Tasmania now record penguins in their burrows breeding or moulting, or sheltering during poor winter weather, virtually in all months of the year. Thus visitors can impact on nesting birds with eggs and/or chicks for most of the year.

Trophy Little Penguin selfies are no different to the trophy pictures of a bygone era — where lion and other mammal hunters posed proudly with their kill. The impacts to the penguins and their colony can be as devastating — all for the sake of bragging rights over a photograph and the attempt to outdo a colleague.

Trophy selfies do nothing to protect our environment — it’s all about ego — and no care for the environment.

Dr Eric Woehler is the Convenor of Birdlife Tasmania, and has undertaken research on penguins in Tasmania and around the world for 40 years, including the impacts of human visitation. Birdlife Tasmania is currently undertaking surveys and monitoring of penguins around Tasmania.