The penguin was found by a member of Earthcare St. Kilda, a volunteer group. The attack occurred in an area designed to protect the penguins.
It’s believed the attack on the penguin happened around 1:30 a.m., and the group took to Facebook and wrote that words couldn’t describe the horror of the situation.
Ivan Leong, a volunteer, was at St. Kilda Pier when he said he saw a group of five young men. He said he asked them to leave the penguins in peace.
Leong said the group were drunk and harassing the penguins and chasing them around and grabbing them. He said he told them to stop it.
About 20 minutes after that, Leong said tourists alerted him to a penguin that was bleeding. The penguin suffered a deep cut under its right eye, and another penguin also had some blood on it.
Leong wasn’t able to help the penguins because of the hour and he didn’t have the authority to remove the birds. However, he did manage to get photos of the birds.
Chris Hardman, the Parks Victoria’s Melbourne regional director, said the people who did the attack are horrendous and they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Police are continuing their investigation into the attack and the parks department are working with them.
