Phillip Island is home to hundreds of species of wildlife, such as wallabies, koalas, possums, echidnas, snakes, lizards, birds and the famous Little Penguin.
The local human population on the island is over 9,000, increasing to over 40,000 over summer. This is a significant amount of traffic for a small island.
Every night up to 4,000 people come to visit the Penguin Parade and other attractions on the island. Tourist buses and cars leave the Parade in droves just after sunset and many animals, including penguins, are hit at this time. A lot of the time people do not adhere to the speed limits and many animals unfortunately have been hit deliberately. Animals are extremely hard to see at night and when travelling at high speeds it is very hard to slow down quickly to avoid hitting them and causing an accident.
When hit by cars these animals (often with pouch young) either die instantly or are injured and left to die a slow and painful death.
Local wildlife rescuers are called daily (sometimes 3 to 4 times a day) to rescue and care for injured wildlife.
Every day on every road there is another animal lying dead in the middle or on the side of the road. It’s heartbreaking to see and does not give a good impression to tourists.
The current speed limit is up to 100km/hr. These limits may have been satisfactory in the past, on this once barren island, but with the eradication of foxes and revegetation of the land, carried out by Landcare and Phillip Island Nature Parks, certain wildlife populations are rapidly increasing. This means more and more animals are using the roads to cross as they traverse through the corridors of vegetation.
Please sign this petition to urge Bass Coast City Council and Vic Roads to change the speed limit on Phillip Island to 60km/hr between dusk and dawn.
