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The Tasmania Conservation Trust was worried their stock of little woolly jumpers for oil-slicked penguins was running low |
After a publicity campaign, knitters from all over the world contacted the Launceston library for the patterns - bow-tie patterns or fake fur collar.
Tasmanian Conservation Trust officer Jo Carswell said: "We are on a major sea lane here so there's always a risk that a spill could affect our penguins and we like to be ready for that." She added: "It's a fairly easy pattern to do - just a little ribbing down the front, a polo collar and little holes for the wings to go through."
The jumpers help keep the penguins warm and stop them swallowing oil as they try to clean it off their feathers.
Sue Bailey, a reporter with the island's newspaper, The Mercury told Ananova: "They've been getting quite a few stylish numbers - even ladies from Japan have been sending in jumpers. "People have been knitting hundreds and hundreds of them. There are lots of them in reserve now." The last major oil spill was in 1995, she said. Last updated: 11:50 Saturday 19th May 2001 RELATED STORIES: City penguin reunited with island home 20:27 Monday 5th February 2001