Future bleak for little penguins (Tasmania)

[Donna]

Every year, hundreds of tourists visiting remote islands off the Tasmanian coast are enchanted by the site of little penguins - also known as fairy penguins - making their way across the sand dunes after dark towards their burrows.

But on Bruny Island, south of Hobart, visitors are just as likely to be confronted by the sight of tiny penguin carcasses littering the road.

The dirt road along the neck which connects the two islands that form Bruny is part of a corridor penguins use to make their way to their colonies.

Conservationists claim about 50 penguins are hit by cars every week.

They say the future's looking bleaker for the tiny bird, with a plan by the State Government to seal the road and increase the speed limit.

Dr Eric Woehler from Birds Tasmania says the population of little penguins across Tasmania is already under threat from a decrease in habitat and predation from cats, dogs and more recently, foxes.

"The concern that we have is that by sealing the dirt road and increasing the speed limit, we're going to see an increasing number of penguins being killed by cars on the neck," he said.

"As it was on a dirt road we're getting six or seven birds a night being killed by cars."

But he says the group has received no response to 12 months of lobbying the Department of Infrastructure to include speed humps and penguin-sized tunnels in its plans.

"What we're talking about for tunnels under the road is a small tunnel literally not much smaller than a penguin, probably about 30 centimetres or so," he said.

"It's not much additional cost to the road if it's going to be constructed and sealed anyway."

He has accused the state government of putting election points ahead of environmental concerns in pushing ahead with the infrastructure upgrades on the island - which falls under the key Tasmanian electorate of Franklin.

"You'd have to wonder if the electoral candidates for Franklin really want to have killing penguins as part of their election platform," he said.

Dr Woehler says there's also concern over the impact on operators of popular twilight penguin tours.

"The last thing we want to see is tourists stepping off the bus of an evening to see the penguins walking up the beach and being confronted with dead penguins in the car park," he said.

"It's just completely the wrong message to send out."

A spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure, Rod MacDonald, says all environmental approvals have been received and a contract for the upgrade will be awarded next month.

Mr MacDonald says the department is open to hearing concerns from conservation groups about the impact on the penguin population.