Penguins Fitted With Sweaters

Reuters

SYDNEY (May 21) - Australia's fairy penguins are all set for winter and any oil spills after 1,000 tiny woolly jerseys were specially knitted and sent from as far away as Japan to the Australian island state of Tasmania.

The jerseys, which cover the 15-inch tall penguins from neck to ankle, stop oil-coated penguins from preening themselves and ingesting poisonous oil.

And for the fashion-conscious penguin there is a wide choice of colors and designs, even a black and white tuxedo number, complete with bow tie.

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust made a local appeal earlier this year for the penguin jerseys after oil spills on the coast of Tasmania, not realizing they would be inundated.

''They have come from everywhere, even as far away as Japan. Someone in New York asked for a pattern, but we haven't received it yet,'' Jo Castle, a spokeswoman for the Trust said on Monday.

The pattern is based on one used for penguins in the northern hemisphere, only smaller. ''It was redesigned for the little penguins in the southern hemisphere,'' said Castle.

''They (the penguins) are not very happy about them, but they cover them from neck to ankle which stops them preening themselves and ingesting poisonous oil,'' she said.

Castle said knitters, many old ladies in nursing homes, made jerseys in their favorite football team colors, used scraps of wool to make patchwork tops, and some knitted woolly tuxedos in keeping with a penguin's natural colors.