A lone fox has killed 26 little penguins in Sydney's northern beaches, threatening the endangered colony during breeding season.
The gruesome discovery of the mauled little penguins, also known as fairy penguins, strewn across the beaches and scrub at North Head near Manly has left the local National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers devastated.
"All up now we have a total of 26 dead birds from around the national park area from where the birds are nesting," ranger Mel Tyas said.
The NPWS has mobilised a small army of rangers, wildlife experts and community volunteers to protect the endangered population as they go about the business of breeding.
Since the first dead penguin was found less than two weeks ago, 95 volunteers have been patrolling the nesting areas around the clock through thick scrub, steep terrain and pouring rain.
The little penguin population that call the coastal heath at North Head home is the last remaining colony on the NSW mainland, but its proximity to Manly's urban area left them vulnerable to attacks from dogs and foxes.
Night vision footage, necropsies carried out on the dead penguins, and the nature of the maulings all point to a single killer fox, she said.
"Foxes are well known for indiscriminately killing or mauling multiple animals at one time including penguins and other ground birds, but they can also be notoriously elusive and difficult to locate," Ms Tyas said.
The patrol area spans much of the headland including Quarantine station, Collins Beach and Store Beach.
"The scale of the operation is quite phenomenal," Ms Tyas said.
"We have people out there 24/7 basically, sitting on those penguins to make sure that they get back to the nest safely and get out safely in the morning to go and feed," she said.
But the fox preying on the North Head penguins is a particularly cunning hunter and won't take the bait left in traps.
"He's not interested in dead food if he can get live food and there's plenty of it around," said ranger Sharon Evans.
"And he's wily enough that he's not going to get in one of the traps that we've set," Ms Evans said.
"[But] we're going to protect our penguins," she said.
The constant patrolling seemed to be keeping the fox at bay. Friday marked five days since the last penguin was killed, according to the rangers.
"We are confident the actions we are taking have prevented further penguin deaths for the last five days at least, but the fox remains a threat and whilst there is any evidence it is still active, this operation will continue," Ms Tyas said.
Local penguin warden Sally Garman said the deaths were a terrible blow to the local population, but the colony would survive.
"It's devastating but it's not catastrophic to this colony of penguins. We can save them," she said.
