A penguin has been found with its leg dangling and toe torn, after allegedly being abused by a group of youths — and local bird enthusiasts want those responsible to feel the full force of the law.
Penguin Rehab and Release president Kathy Grieveson said she went to the Burnie foreshore — in Tasmania's north-west — on Sunday night to find the penguin crouched between rocks.
"He wasn't moving, and one eye was closed and it was weeping a bit," she said.
"I picked him up and noticed that he had one leg dangling, and that the toe was completely macerated and torn.
"He was very, very stressed, very frightened."
Ms Grieveson took the bird home, hydrated it and gave it pain relief, before taking it to Forth Valley Vet Clinic the next day.
She said there were at least another two penguins injured during the incident, but they hid at the back of their burrows, out of reach.
'Innocent creature'
Senior veterinarian Jahk Hughes said the penguin presented with a fractured tibia, a broken toe "contaminated with sand and debris" and mild external wounds.
"The leg was completely broken in half," he said.
"It was in two pieces."
Dr Hughes said the Forth Valley Vet Clinic team inserted a plate into the penguin's leg which will likely remain in place.
But he said the toe was "damaged beyond repair" and they had to remove some of the webbing from the foot and remove part of his middle toe and resect the skin over it.
"It's always heartbreaking to see an animal suffer," he said.
"You just worry [about] what provoked people to do this in the first place to such an innocent creature. It definitely did not deserve it."
A year of rehab for Tib
The penguin — now nicknamed Tib after his fracture — will remain at the rehabilitation centre. It is currently in intensive care in isolation, healing from his surgery.
Ms Grieveson said the vet had to remove Tib's feathers to perform the surgery, and he was no longer waterproof — it would likely take a year before his feathers grew back.
"The beauty with little penguins is they are wild and they stay wild. They do not domesticate at all," she said.
Ms Grieveson said she felt "wild, angry and furious" over the incident.
"I think it's an unforgivable act, and I think it is an incredibly horrific indictment on our society," she said.
She said she had noticed a growing trend in seabird abuse — including a penguin she claimed was "tortured, bludgeoned and left alive" in Stanley earlier in the year, and penguins pulled from their burrows in Sulphur Creek, on Tasmania's north coast.
Police involved
Tasmania Police and Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service are continuing to investigate the alleged mistreatment.
"When identified the offenders will be subject to the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act," a police spokesperson said.
According to the act, the maximum penalty is a five-year imprisonment, a fine of $33,600, or both.
"Police are seeking public assistance to identify those involved, particularly a young female who was carrying a distinctive, brightly-coloured backpack," Sergeant Ben Elliot said.
"We are urging anyone with information about the incident, including the identity of the youths, to contact Burnie Police."
'Absolutely unacceptable'
BirdLife Tasmania convenor Eric Woehler said the incident "truly beggars belief".
"It's completely indefensible. There is no excuse for anything like this, and we really need to stamp it out," he said.
Dr Woehler hoped the people involved would be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law".
"We really need to make sure that anytime something like this happens, that these people learn a lesson and others in the community learn that doing something like this is absolutely unacceptable to the Tasmanian community," he said.
Dr Woehler said Tasmania was a stronghold for the species as they came under increasing threat from climate change and migrated to the island.
"Tasmania is becoming increasingly important as a refuge for little penguins in Australia, and so every colony in Tasmania bet on the mainland or on our offshore islands is critically important to protect," he said.
He said it flew in the face of the many volunteers across the state doing what they could to protect and care for penguins.
