Congratulations to the Friends of Lillico Penguins who were successful in obtaining funding through the Wildcare Tasmania's Nature Conservation Fund to restore and replace the penguin protection barrier along the Bass Highway at Lillico.
This critical infrastructure helps keep our precious penguins safe as they make their nightly journey from the ocean to their nesting sites.
Working alongside contractors from Equity Labour Services (ELS) volunteers have been collecting rubbish and ensuring penguin burrows are not damaged while ELS conducted hand clearing vegetation and cutting back trees, which damage the 2.6 kilometre stretch of fencing, while ensuring that no burrows in the area are disturbed.
Among their finds, volunteers and staff have collected 460 kilograms of rubbish, 18 car tyres, 3 pushbike tyres and even a bag of false teeth!
Aside from increasing the height of the fence, vegetation has been cleared by a metre within the fence line to stop these cheeky penguins using the overgrown foliage as a ramp to hop over the fence.
Once complete, the PWS Leven Field Centre will provide ongoing funding to ensure the weeds are kept at bay in the long term.
Well done to everyone involved in bringing this important upgrade to life and keeping our penguins away from harm.
Volunteer Sally McMillan collecting debris beside the newly erected fence