Call for penguin rehab workers

GROUP that runs what sounds like a luxury resort for little penguins – complete with an above-ground pool, bath house and herring served on demand – is looking for volunteers.

The little penguins staying there are not on holiday, they are recuperating from injury or recovering from illness.

The birds need the pool for hydrotherapy to build up their strength before being released back into the wild.

The bath house is in a separate area and used by little penguins under quarantine.

The Penguin Rehabilitation Facility, in Burnie, is the first of its kind in the North-West.

Until the Burnie centre was established in 2018, injured and sick birds needed to travel to the South for care, then travel back to the North-West for release when healed.

More than 36 little penguins plus a variety of other sea and shore birds have been rehabiliA tated since the centre opened. The average cost of caring for a bird is $100 per week and the average time in care is just over a month. A volunteer information evening will be held on October 21 at the Cradle Coast Authority building in Burnie.

Penguin Rehab and Release said volunteers needed to fill a range of roles from on-site support to administrative tasks and fundraising.

“Most of the on-site work is dirty, exhausting and unglamorous,” the group said.

But it said the work was extremely rewarding.

To book a place, contact Kathy Grieveson at penguinrandr@gmail.com