South Coast Shipwreck
Little Penguins
Unlike many other penguin species, Little Penguins come ashore to roost in burrows on the beach or rock crevices and can be seen along the southern coast of Australia for much of the year. They can also sleep out at sea and sometimes spend weeks away from land.
Little Penguin
The Shipwreck area is set amidst the Southern Oceans of
Australia, which are subject to an unusual combination of warm and
cold sea currents, making them a unique habitat for some of the
world's most amazing and diverse marine species. One of the most
famous inhabitants is the beautiful Little Penguin (*Eudyptula
minor*), also commonly known as the Fairy Penguin. The smallest
penguin in the world, the little penguin is also the only penguin
species to breed on mainland Australia. Little penguins aren't just
inhabitants of the far south, however, as they've also been found
in Sydney Harbour.
Our penguin population is a very successful breeding colony.
Every year, so many new chicks are born that once they are
fully-fledged, some can be sent to other zoos and aquariums around
Australia. The penguin habitat has been carefully designed to
create a natural environment, and the wave action generated in the
pool makes it a lot of fun for the penguins, who enjoy riding the
waves as they would in the wild. Nesting boxes and nesting material
such as gum leaves are also available in breeding season for the
penguins, who always stay with the same partner for breeding and
parenting.
In the wild, penguins have many natural predators, such as seals
and sharks in the water and some reptiles and birds on land. But
there are now other things which may threaten the survival of this
protected species: domestic animals such as cats and feral animals
such as foxes, urban sprawl, which reduces their habitat, and
overfishing, which reduces the penguins' food stocks.
Weird Science
When little penguins leave a beach for the first time as chicks,
they somehow take a visual imprint of it - a kind of photo in their
head. As the years go by, they always return to the exact same
beach to breed, even though they might not have been back for a
long time.
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Shipwreck
