Eggs being destroyed at penguin centre

Granite Island’s Penguin Centre has confirmed its staff have been forced to destroy eggs of rescued penguins for the past five years.

The manager said it is heartbreaking, but her hands are tied by the restrictions of a government permit.

Ten penguins live at Granite Island’s Interpretive Centre after being rescued from the wild, and during breeding season, birds will be birds.

Any eggs laid have to be destroyed before they hatch.

“We put them in the fridge, there’s nothing in them at that stage, they’ve not developed, we’re not killing penguins,” manager Dorothy Longden said.

A former volunteer blew the whistle at a fundraiser on Friday.

“26 penguins are left on Granite Island, and we had nine eggs we had to destroy, so that is a third,” former volunteer Melissa Price said.

Studies show the island’s population has plummeted more than a thousand in the past decade.

The centre said it has been fighting for its own breeding program for years, but has been knocked back every time.

Only recently, it was granted a temporary permit to breed two penguins for research at Flinders University.

“I don’t understand how that is going to help the penguin population around Granite Island,” said another former employee,” Jeni Price.

The Government said Granite Island’s centre only has room for the existing ten penguins.