Penguins to march into Symbio

The littlest member of the species is coming to Helensburgh

Symbio Wildlife Park could welcome the pitter-patter of little happy feet as soon as Spring 2023.

“We are hoping for 10 to 12 Little Penguins, a good colony size,” said Symbio’s managing director, Matt Radnidge, whose dream is that the new visitor attraction will also host the biggest captive-breeding program outside Taronga Zoo.

In December, the Helensburgh zoo received a $150,000 grant from the NSW Government’s Tourism Product Development Fund to develop an eco-friendly Little Penguin Experience, known as ‘Penguin Shores’.

Symbio will match the grant, and more. Matt expects the total build will cost about $400,000.

“Aquatic displays are always a bit more intricate, because water is so complex,” he said.

About as tall as a school ruler, standing at 30-40cm, the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the world’s smallest penguin. It’s also known as the fairy penguin or little blue penguin as it is the only species with blue feathers.

Little Penguins occur only in Australia and New Zealand. In NSW, some populations are endangered.

“If you look at our mission to educate, inspire, conserve, it ticks all the boxes,” Matt said.

“It’s our first ocean species, so we can get into educating on a totally new ecosystem.

“Inspire – they are one of the most inquisitive, cool, amazing little critters to watch. It’s almost like a water version of a meerkat, you know, where people are just drawn to them.

“And conservation … there’s a coordinated breeding program that we will be a part of. We want to set up great facilities, great water, great nesting opportunities. We hope to breed and then repopulate wherever is needed in the program.”

Their food will come from Western Australia, source of the freshest packed fish. “Pretty much they exclusively eat pilchards,” Matt said.

The design for their home is the result of extensive research and aims to give the Little Penguins – which can cover up to 50km a day in the wild – some long, deep swim runs.

“It’s good to see them have length of swim and also depth of swim,” Matt said.

With two viewing areas planned, visitors will be able to enjoy the action both above and below the water. Penguin Shores will be built where Symbio’s emus currently live and the big birds will relocate to near the kangaroo lawns.

Penguin Shores is Symbio’s most ambitious project in 2023, but it’s not the only one in the works. The next exciting new visitor attraction to open will be a huge aviary for tropical birds, including colourful Australian parrots.

Photos supplied