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AUSTRALIA-ANIMAL-PENGUINS-CRIME
Dismay at ‘lenient’ Australian penguin killer sentence
SYDNEY, June 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A man who bludgeoned six fairy penguins to
death was sentenced to just 49 hours community service by an Australian court
Monday, sparking outrage from conservationists.
Joshua Jeffrey was convicted of aggravated cruelty to animals after he
battered the birds with a stick while drunk on a beach with two others at
Sulphur Creek in Tasmania state in 2016.
Magistrate Tamara Jago called it a “callous act” against “vulnerable
penguins” and said Jeffery, 20, had shown no remorse, the Hobart Mercury
reported from the Burnie Magistrates Court.
The newspaper reported that Jago took Jeffrey’s “intellectual limitation
into account” when she sentenced him to community service and ordered him to
pay costs of Aus$82.15 (US$61) in a ruling Birdlife Tasmania slammed as “no
deterrent whatsoever”.
Jeffrey’s lawyer had earlier told the court that his client had suffered
from ongoing mental health issues since childhood, national broadcaster ABC
reported.
“This will not stop the next person going out and doing exactly the same
thing at some time in the future,” said Birdlife Tasmania chief Eric Woehler,
an internationally-acclaimed seabirds expert.
“The sentence places minimal value on Tasmania’s precious wildlife. This
sets an unwelcome precedent for future attacks on our wildlife.”
Fairy penguins — the smallest species of penguin which can live to 24
years — are only found in southern Australia and New Zealand, with Tasmania
supporting around half of the global population.
Also known as little penguins, the six died of head fractures, and the
court was told that the colony at Sulphur Creek, which supports an estimated
267 pairs, would take years to recover.
“With so many other threats, such as gillnets and dog attacks, the last
thing any penguin colony needs is a senseless and cruel attack such as this
one was,” added Woehler.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1100hrs