Twenty-six Little Penguins were mauled to death over a number of days near their nesting areas, near Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches.
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Ranger Mel Tyas said that a network of staff, contract fox control experts, seabird experts and community volunteers have been working around the clock to protect the endangered colony and while today marks at least five days since the last bird was killed, NPWS believe the fox is still in the area and the operation will continue.
“We are confident from the necropsy results, the style of killings, tracks and camera footage that a single fox is responsible for all of the deaths,”
“Foxes are well known for indiscriminately killing or mauling multiple animals at one time including penguins and other ground birds, but they can also be notoriously elusive and difficult to locate.
“This fox is particularly cunning and believed to be both bait and trap shy, which is why it has been able to avoid pest control measures that other foxes would not. Ms Tyas said.
Australian Feral Management were asked to help on this site due to our experience in fox trapping and the NPWS not having the training and experience with leg hold traps in the Sydney Region. There was also limited time to trap the fox, as they needed a quick fix on a situation that was attracting large amounts of media attention.
What most people don’t know that every golf course, large parks, water front areas, Creeks and bush land, cemeteries, many schools all contain foxes.