The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCOBB) admitted 69 African penguin chicks and 36 African penguin eggs from the Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Bay on 1 July. Adverse weather conditions in the Western Cape province has wreaked all kinds on havoc on wildlife, leaving many soaking wet, with no food and their habitats washed away.
SANCOBB was sad to report that 17 of the eggs rescued were not viable, but they remain positive for the existing 19 eggs which they have incubated.
“Due to the bad weather that brought heavy rains, penguin nests were flooded, and with our partners CapeNature we stepped in to rescue them. This shows how important our ranger programmes are to keep a watchful eye on the nests of such endangered species,” they said in a post on Facebook.
The organisation deploys seven conservation rangers to colonies at the Simon’s Town colony, the Stony Point colony in Betty’s Bay and Robben Island and Bird Island in Algoa Bay. These colonies are under the protection of conservation authorities.
According to SANCOBB, the rangers duties include:
- Rescue injured, oiled or abandoned penguins and seabirds
- Conduct moult counts of African penguins and participate in other seabird censuses
- Maintains infrastructure, equipment and the natural vegetation at the colonies
- Assists with monitoring seabirds
- Data collection and other research activities led by the SANCCOB Research Manager.
To help keep the displaced penguins and their eggs safe, the organisation will need to provide veterinary care, medication and fish feeds – and they will need the public’s help to successfully rehabilitate these birds over the next few months.
You can follow their Facebook page for more information on how the penguins are faring and how you can help fund their rehabilitation.
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