Penguins. pic Cari Du Preez Penguins. pic Cari Du Preez
Environment Writer
BABY penguins that were facing starvation on Dyer Island off Gansbaai have been rescued in a joint operation by CapeNature and the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary.
The 32 youngsters were taken to the rehabilitation centre at Kleinbaai, where they will be cared for until they are able to fend for themselves, and will then be released back onto the island.
Deon Geldenhuys, CapeNature’s conservation manager for Dyer Island, said the problem of some chicks facing starvation often occurs this time of year. It happens to the offspring of parent penguins which mated later in the season.
By the time most parent penguins reach their annual moulting time in November, their chicks are usually old enough to have fledged and can go to sea to feed and fend for themselves. But with some penguin families, these two phases are out of sync and that is where the problem comes in.
When the parents moult, they do not go to sea while they wait for their new feathers to grow. If their chicks have not yet fledged, it means there is no one to bring home fish to feed them and they could starve to death.
Normally conservation staff would let nature take its course, but because penguin numbers have declined so drastically, conservation staff keep an eye on the penguin nests at breeding colonies and rescue the abandoned chicks.
The 32 will be fed and fattened at the rehabilitation centre. “If it were not for the efforts of the chick bolstering project, these abandoned chicks would starve to death,” Geldenhuys said.
African penguins have been hammered by natural and human factors. Environmental changes include a movement away from the West Coast of their food fish stocks, while there has also been heavy commercial fishing. Oil spills have also taken their toll on the birds.
Because the present population is only 2.5 percent of what it was 80 years ago, conservation authorities are now considering building artificial penguin colonies on the southern Cape coast closer to where the fish stocks have migrated.
Xolani Lawo, one of the staff who works at the rehabilitation centre, said in a statement there was plenty of work to do, including “cutting sardines into sushi-sized pieces”, feeding the chicks, washing towels and scrubbing the sanctuary.
Lawo said the public could help by donating money to feed the chicks.
Anyone wishing to donate can contact Brenda du Toit at 076 061 3114 or e-mail pa@sharkwatchsa.com