{"id":550504,"date":"2026-03-19T12:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550504\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:04:13","slug":"little-penguin-rescued-and-returned-to-manly-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550504\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Penguin rescued and returned to Manly Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little penguin was joined by its saviours as it was returned back to Manly waters yesterday, right where it was rescued a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

Members of the public found the penguin, dubbed \u2018Pixel\u2019 by Taronga, struggling in North Steyne ocean during the early hours of the morning in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up being the only one with a towel, so I was just sitting there with this little penguin here,\u201d Camilla told Manly Observer, who was present to witness the re-release of bird.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re calling all the numbers, but it\u2019s 6am no one\u2019s really picking up. Taronga Zoo is not open yet,\u201d Camilla\u2019s daughter Cara added, \u201cthen someone picked up and said, yeah, we\u2019ll send a volunteer, and until then, you\u2019ll just stay with the penguin, which we did for like, a few hours. It was very cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The rescue crew (left to right: Cara, NPWS representative, Deb Collins, Camilla) Photo: Jack Kelly<\/p>\n

The penguin was picked up by local wildlife rescue organisation WIRES and brought to Taronga Wildlife Hospital for examination. The bird was in an emaciated state, unable to walk and avoided being in the water.<\/p>\n

For eight weeks it was able to regain its strength with supportive care and proper nutrition from the vet nurse team. During this time the little bird\u2019s personality had quite the impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been my favourite patient for the last two months. I absolutely adored her, but seeing her go back into the wild is what it\u2019s all about,\u201d Deb Collin, a Taronga Vet Nurse, shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cPixel, just as her name says, she\u2019s just a small part of the bigger picture of little penguins. We don\u2019t have a lot of them on mainland Australia, so it\u2019s important we get her back out there so that she can continue to contribute to the overall health of the little penguin species.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Members from the public, Taronga, and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) all made it to North Steyne yesterday to witness the release.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Pixel had too become quite fond of her carers, not immediately swimming away but rather hovering among the shore waves for ten minutes before departing into the horizon.<\/p>\n

The hopes are that the little penguin will rejoin the Manly colony and contribute to its repopulation. At its current state, this last remaining mainland colony in Australia is down to just 15 breeding pairs \u2013 a record low for a second year in a row, previously sitting at 19.<\/p>\n

\"\"Each year, It\u2019s estimated 1.5 billion vertebrate animals are killed by cats, feral and roaming.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThese little penguins, being from Manly, fight a lot of battles\u2026 I think everyone needs to be conscious of the fact that we have this beautiful species very close to us,\u201d Deb said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, being responsible, as far as your dog ownership, keeping your dogs on leash in the areas where they can be found, keeping your cats inside, removing all your marine debris, and going slowly in areas where penguins are if you\u2019ve got a boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roaming and feral cats and foxes have significantly reduced colony numbers in the past, however, off-leash dogs are also a threat. A penguin was reported by Taronga to have died by a dog attack<\/a> on Warriewood Beach in January this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"An emancipated penguin was found deceased on Warriewood Beach with bite wounds on its neck. January 30 2026. Picture: supplied\n<\/p>\n

Boat strikes are also a constant concern in a busy area such as Manly. Restricted areas for anchoring, particularly around Collins Flat and Quarantine Beach, are still often crowded with vessels.<\/p>\n

In the past year, Taronga has taken four little penguins into their care. This is a decrease, as they usually care for at least a dozen. Although this low number may seem as a progress, their wildlife hospital sees it as a concern, believing it to be an indicator of poor colony numbers.<\/p>\n

On a positive note, there are plenty of people and organisations currently assisting in the preservation of the colony. Taronga works closely with the NSW Government\u2019s Seabirds to Seascapes program<\/a>, NSW NPWS monitor for predation threats and community groups such as Manly\u2019s volunteer group, the penguin wardens, support their recovery.<\/p>\n

\"\"The rescue group onlooking a now healthy Pixel the penguin swimming off into the horizon. Photo: Jack Kelly\n<\/p>\n

Even regular members of the public are ready to go out of their way to lend a helping hand, such as Pixel\u2019s rescuers, with Cara going above and beyond, sticking behind after the rescue to pick up litter scattered along Manly beach after the previous night\u2019s storm.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note if you see a struggling penguin, or any marine creature, it\u2019s best not to approach it \u2013 unless absolutely necessary \u2013 and to call your local wildlife rescue service for assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A little penguin was joined by its saviours as it was returned back to Manly waters yesterday, right…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,272361,93402,44450,25270,128,272362,272363,338],"class_list":["post-550504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environement","tag-little-penguin","tag-manly","tag-npws","tag-science","tag-taronga","tag-taronga-wildlife-hospital","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}