“Love machines” aim to lure more fairy penguins after first chick in 30 years hatches at reserve

After a fairy penguin chick hatched in a reserve in New South Wales, Australia, for the first time in 30 years, conservationists are determined to attract more, reports Newsweek.

Fairy penguins in a burrow. Photo courtesy of New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment.

Conservationists have set up boxes they call “love machines,” which project fairy penguin mating calls. The hope is to attract wandering penguin pairs by giving them the impression that the site is a place where many penguins have successfully reproduced.

Conservationist had set up a predator-proof fence at the Eagles Claw Nature Reserve in Eden to keep out dogs and feral foxes, which allowed the first pair to nest. The last penguins in the area were attacked by dogs in 1993 and eradicated all in one night.

Fairy penguins, or little penguins, are the world’s smallest penguin, standing at just 12 inches tall. They once bred all along the coasts of New South Wales, but, due to predation by feral foxes (introduced by Europeans), they now breed mostly on offshore islands.