Phillip Island’s fox eradication and habitat restoration boost little-penguin numbers to 40,000
Conservation work on Phillip Island eliminated foxes and restored habitat, increasing the little-penguin colony from about 12,000 in the 1980s to roughly 40,000 today.
By the 1980s, nine of Phillip Island’s ten little-penguin colonies had vanished, leaving only the Summerland Peninsula colony threatened by introduced foxes, habitat loss and human disturbance. Responding to research warnings, authorities launched the Penguin Protection Plan, which included a 20-year fox-eradication project that removed over 1,000 foxes and declared the island fox-free in 2017. Simultaneously, the government bought back and demolished houses on the Summerland Estate, restoring native vegetation and creating safer nesting sites.
These actions, supported by the Victorian Government, the Penguin Foundation and the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, helped the penguin population expand from roughly 12,000 in the mid-1980s to about 40,000 today. Ongoing monitoring uses beach counts, breeding studies and GPS tracking to assess both land and sea threats, while the rehabilitated habitat now also supports species such as eastern barred bandicoots and short-tailed shearwaters. Continued predator management and marine research remain essential to maintain the recovery.
