The fence defence for our Little Penguins

The fence has been built to protect a colony of Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from funds raised in the community from the Eden Fairy Penguin Fund.

The Nature Reserve was gazetted in 1992 to protect a colony of Little Penguins at the request of a local Environment group that were very concerned for their future.  Pre 1935 there were around 500 birds and in 1983 there were 27 pairs of penguins in residence in sea gutters along this section of rocky shoreline.  Before any conservation works could commence at the site a severe storm combined with predation by local foxes and dogs led to the local extinction of the colony.

Mr Nicholas Carlile, Senior Research Scientist with the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, surveyed the site and found evidence of our little penguins visiting burrows in recent years.  He developed a plan to re-introduce the species in an area adjacent to Eagles Claw.

The idea is to provide safe nesting sites in this South East facing cove protected from major weather events such as the East Coast Lows, northern sun, less run-off from hardened surfaces and protection from a steep cliff making predator access difficult.

A group of dedicated community members, led by Wendy Noble and the help of Nicholas Carlile, have successfully brought the fence to the penguins defence decades later.