Thousands of woolly jumpers, which will prevent penguins from perishing from the cold, have left Gloucestershire for Tasmania.
A total of 5,000 jumpers, knitted by volunteers in Gloucestershire and Shropshire, were packed on to a flight to the Australian island on Friday.
The jumpers will provide a lifeline to a colony of Fairy Penguins on the island, which are threatened by frequent oil slicks from the ships that pass near their home.
Cleaning the birds robs them of the natural oils that keep them warm, the jumpers protect the penguins from the cold as they re-oil their feathers.
