Cape Town drives duck rehoming effort

A new duck rehoming initiative launched in Cape Town is aimed at restoring the ecological balance of local urban stormwater ponds.

UrbanWild Conservation’s Duck Rehoming Project was launched earlier this month with the rescue, rehabilitation and ethical rehoming of abandoned Muscovy ducks from Peperboom Park in Vredekloof, Brackenfell.

According to Ilana Engelbrecht of UrbanWild Conservation, formerly known as West Coast Bird Rescue, overpopulation of domestic ducks has become a recurring issue across stormwater ponds in the region.

“Peperboom Park in Vredekloof is no exception, where the duck population has exceeded approximately 60 birds,” Engelbrecht said.

She explained that the stormwater pond was drying up in Peperboom Park, which left the Muscovy ducks without access to clean water.

These birds are killed in the streets or die from starvation, Engelbrecht said.

“In the past, these overpopulations have been addressed through mass euthanasia, often leading to community distress and conflict.

“However, in collaboration with CapeNature, the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, the City of Cape Town, and Vredekloof CID, we are leading a pioneering effort to humanely rehome these ducks,” said Engelbrecht.

With the support of 20 dedicated volunteers, the team successfully assessed and captured 29 ducks on October 5, with 17 of them placed into foster care as part of a phased rehoming approach.

“This ongoing effort not only focuses on animal welfare but also works toward restoring these natural habitats so that indigenous species can return to Cape Town’s stormwater ponds,” said Engelbrecht.

CapeNature spokesperson Luke Folb said their involvement in the capture and rehoming project is the provision of regulatory extension and supplying the prohibited hunting method permit authorising all those who will be responsible for trapping and capturing the Muscovy ducks at Peperboom Park.

“It is important to note that the Muscovy ducks that are the subject of this project are feral Muscovy ducks of the domestic subspecies Cairina moschata domestica,” Folb said.

“CapeNature does not generally regulate domestic species, but because the capture methods that are used in this project may potentially lead to the bycatch or wilful disturbance of indigenous wild birds, a prohibited hunting method permit was required to authorise such bycatch (through trapping) and disturbance of indigenous wild birds during the capture operation at Peperboom Park.

“The prohibited hunting method permit authorised the specific capture methods, the specific people who would be conducting the trapping and capturing and also framed conditions to which the authorisation is subject to.”

Folb said domestic species that establish feral free-roaming populations can pose potentially serious risks to the unique biodiversity of the Western Cape including direct competition for habitat, habitat alteration and/or destruction, hybridisation with indigenous species and disease.

“CapeNature supports this project that aims to remove this feral population of free-roaming domestic Muscovy ducks from this public open space and transfer them into permanent captive care where they can no longer pose any risk to the biodiversity of the Western Cape.

“This project does not only benefit the ducks themselves from a welfare perspective, but also benefits biodiversity conservation in general as long as the ducks are not released back into the landscape to free roam again.”

UrbanWild Conservation hopes to expand the project to subsequent phases focused on habitat restoration of stormwater ponds across Cape Town, and called for public support in various ways including fostering ducks or donating food.

Cape Times