CANBERRA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Experts have called for an island off the coast of South Australia (SA) to be closed to the public at night in order to protect penguins.
The penguin population on Granite Island, a nature reserve and tourist attraction 80 kilometers south of Adelaide, has been in decline since 2000.
However, having reached the brink of extinction, the population of the penguins has doubled from 20 in 2012 to 44 in 2018.
Diane Colombelli-Negrel, a penguin ecologist from Flinders University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday that despite the uptick in numbers, the penguins remain at threat of extinction because of human activity.
According to Colombelli-Negrel, there has been a 25 percent increase in ignorant human activity such as trampling nesting habitats and shining lights in burrows on the island in the last year.
"As a result, the birds have abandoned their burrows and their young," she said.
"In one night, we could have several people disturbing the penguins."
"Many people actually think the penguins have completely disappeared from the island and maybe other people are just unaware that they should not be disturbing the penguins."
Granite Island can be accessed by the public 24 hours a day seven days a week from Victor Harbor along a 600-metre wooden causeway, which has been in operation for 150 years.
Colombelli-Negrel has called for the South Australian government and Victor Harbor Council to restrict access to the island at night during the penguin breeding months between late winter and early summer.
