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Botched grass burn kills penguins in Australia
( 2001-06-28 11:42 ) (7 )

Forty-two fairy penguins were burned to death after an attempt by Australian wild life authorities to burn away grass on a nature reserve went wrong, officials said on Tuesday.

Southern National Parks and Wildlife Service director Tony Fleming said the controlled burn-off on Montague Island off Sydney was intended to clear kikuyu grass, which had affected the penguins' nesting habits.

"The staff thought the burn had been completed and it was out and overnight it appears to have reignited in one small place and taken off," he told Australian radio.

Nick Klomp, associate professor of wildlife management at Charles Sturt University, said the fairy penguin colony of 5,000 breeding pairs would not be adversely affected.

"Forty-two penguins is less than half of one percent of the breeding population, but any loss of penguins is really unfortunate," he added. "It's risky and we did all our sums and on this occasion, it got out of hand."

Fleming said the burn-off had been timed to coincide with winter, when most of the penguins were out at sea. Fairy penguins are quite common in Australia.

An investigation has been launched.

The reserve is eight km (five miles) off Sydney's coast.