Ballarat marine wildlife lovers are set for a treat in 2017 with the addition of little penguins to the Ballarat Wildlife Park.
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Between eight and 10 penguins are expected to arrive at the zoo by winter in time for the mid-year school holidays.
The wildlife park will develop a new aquatic centre, which will allow spectators to view the penguins underwater and on land.
Curator Alex Mitchell said the exhibit would become a permanent feature at the park and allow it to increase their expertise on marine conservation.
“It’s been part of the wildlife park’s master plan for many years but it’s now at a time we can take advantage,” Mr Mitchell said.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to delve into conservation of marine environment.”
Also known as fairy penguins the species, which is found along the south-east coast of New South Wales and Victoria, are the only variety of penguin native to Australia.
The species is also found in some parts of New Zealand.
Mr Mitchell said the species, which are most famously found on Phillip Island, are well equipped to deal with the fluctuating temperature of the Ballarat region.
He said the penguins would be sourced from another zoo or aquarium in Australia.
“The climate here is quite good for this species, they’re not like an antarctic breeds in that sense,” Mr Mitchell said.
As well as being found in the wild little penguins are also present at the Melbourne Zoo. A similar sub-Antarctic species are present at the Melbourne Aquarium.
The Ballarat exhibition will be the first of its kind in regional Victoria.
Ballarat Regional Tourism chief executive Noel Dempsey said the exhibit created a great opportunity to encourage tourists to spend extra time in Ballarat, particularly coupled with the city’s winter activities.
“One of the biggest attractions in Victoria is Phillip Island and the challenge there is that it’s a full day,” Mr Dempsey said.
“There’s still a big percentage of Chinese tourists who hop on a bus to Ballarat and spend half a day at Sovereign Hill, and if we give them another reason to stay in Ballarat we might get an extra day out of them.
“We’ve been supportive from a funding point of view because the town needs big attractions to keep tourists here, and we think the launch of the penguins in winter would couple perfectly with Winterlude.”