Knit for our kiddies, the penguins don’t need jerseys

IT’S a skill that few people still practice but it is one that was thought to have found favour with conservationists.

Knitting has become the preserve of grannies and other old ladies who knit blankets and baby clothes for charity and jerseys for their long suffering grandchildren.

But in recent years this dying art and grannies nimble fingers have been called on to rescue penguins affected by oil spills from oil tankers in various parts of the world.

According to the internet the jerseys are used in the rehabilitation of these quaint birds which often bear the brunt of our toxic world and the devastation caused by oil spills from fishing vessels and large ocean going tankers and other ships.

According to reports, when a little penguin surfaces in a pool of oil, he loses his waterproofing and the natural insulation which keeps him warm because the oil coats the birds’ feathers, making them separate.

The jerseys keep the penguins warm and prevent them from attempting to preen their feathers to remove the oil.

However, there is another side to this rather cute picture. In Australia there is a conservation group called the Phillip Island Penguin Foundation which has helped to rehabilitate hundreds of penguins since 2001.

While a recent internet appeal is said to come from Phillip Island, the organisation said while they do use jerseys for the penguins they have more than enough at the moment.

A search of snopes.com, a site which exposes internet hoaxes, revealed that many conservationists believe making penguins wear jerseys will add to the trauma already suffered by the little birds.

The penguin jumper campaign began in 2001 when the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and State Library ran a knit for a penguin project. They asked for 100 jerseys.

They received more than 1000. When this over subscription was analysed it was decided to ask for 2000 to keep in a stockpile. They arrived in bundles, mostly from American crafters.

A New Zealand yarn company got in on the act, and the jumpers poured in.

According to snopes.com little is accomplished by the jerseys except stilling the human urge to help and if it’s for a rather cute little fella with a Charlie Chaplin walk, all the better. It’s a little like the con perpetuated on the British nation during World War11. They were asked to hand over their silver to be melted down to produce weapons.

Thousands of family heirloom tea sets and other antiques were given to the war effort, but the whole project was a ruse. It is also wondered how many knitted pairs of socks ever reached the soldiers for whom they were lovingly crafted.

The blog of the International Bird Rescue organisation says jerseys are not considered a useful tool for the rehabilitation of oiled penguins, for a number of reasons, primarily stress.

They said, to keep the rescued birds warm and limit preening, penguins were kept in a warm, well ventilated room until they had been hand cleaned using warm water and a detergent.

For people who have been encouraged to start knitting by this exaggerated internet posting, there is always a need for children’s and babies’ jerseys, especially with winter on the way.

The Robin Hood Foundation and the Ridge Lions Club would be pleased to have them, and while you’re at it a beanie or two would be good too.