Looking after Lillico penguins
Wildcare’s Friends of Lillico Penguins (FOLP) assist the Parks and Wildlife Service by supervising visitors to the Penguin viewing platform at Lillico EVERY SINGLE NIGHT throughout the penguins’ breeding season. That’s from late September to early the following April! The volunteer guides interpret the wildlife through talks, question and answer sessions as well as recording counts of visitors and wildlife.
This penguin guiding season ended after Easter on 06 April 2021. It was a successful season which saw several chicks fledge and leave their nests, and we hope the joy of seeing penguins provided some distraction to everyone involved (volunteers and visitors) from the circumstances the world has faced in the past year! FOLP will be back next year. Until then, you can still visit the platform at night – just be mindful of disturbing any penguins and use red lights :-)
Rebecca Robey, a wildlife vet based in Wollongong, NSW, had this to say about her visit there:
“I had the pleasure of visiting the Lillico Penguins last Sunday night (14/3/21) and was so very impressed with the wonderful work your volunteer group has done to provide the information boards, maintain and boardwalks and have dedicated volunteers on hand each night. I was very fortunate to meet the wonderful volunteer Mary who was incredibly knowledgable and passionate and provided us all with a brilliant insight into the penguins life and plight.
Congratulations on all your hard work and success!”
We concur.