Tasmanian Devils Kill Every Penguin on Tiny Australian Island
Australia, Fairy Penguin, Natural History, Official Incompetence, Tasmanian Devil
Sorry! The experts, it turns out, blew it again. NY Post:
In the process of trying to save one animal, another was decimated.
The 45-square-mile Maria Island was once a safe space for the pocket-sized little penguin species. The corner blip of land was free of the menaces the birds face elsewhere and proved a safe home for the creatures, which grow to be just two pounds. Just a decade ago, some 3,000 breeding pairs of little penguins thrived there, the Guardian reported.
Then, in response to an outbreak of a deadly facial tumor disease among Tasmanian devils, 28 of the marsupials were released on the island between 2012 and 2013. Since then, the face tumor disease’s spread has slowed and the devils’ ranks have grown to approximately 100.
But all of that comes at the expense of the little penguins, as there are no longer any on the island.
“Losing 3,000 pairs of penguins from an island that is a national park that should be a refuge for this species basically is a major blow,” Dr. Eric Woehler of BirdLife Tasmania told the Guardian.
