Little residents waddle into Wildlife Park

ANIMALS at the Ballarat Wildlife Park have welcomed three new neighbours.

Little penguins Maverick, Stanley and Rose waddled into the penguin enclosure last Friday.

The trio were brought to Ballarat from Melbourne Zoo and went through a 30-day quarantine period before being integrated into the penguin colony.

“We had them off display for a little bit just making sure that they were all good and we’ve just introduced them to their new environment and the rest of the colony,” said bird keeper Noah McKenzie.

“When they were released into their habitat here, they went straight into the water, had a little bit of an adventure, had a bit of a swim around and they loved it.”

Little penguins are the smallest penguin species and the only to live on the Australian mainland.

The colony at the Ballarat Wildlife Park is part of the Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Australian Species Management Plan breeding program for little penguins.

“We’re part of a breeding program and this allows us to trade our penguins with other zoos and sanctuaries,” said Mr McKenzie.

“This is so we can breed them, and we can get more baby penguins as well.

“Having fresh genetics come in is really good to mix up the genetic diversity a little bit.”

At the end of last year, the Ballarat Wildlife Park had one penguin egg successfully hatch and Mr McKenzie said they are hoping for more this year.

“Hopefully towards the end of this year we’ll have a lot more,” he said.