Twice as many African penguin eggs can be rescued from abandonment or flooding with the opening of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds' (Sanccob) new seabird nursery in Cape Town.
“The old nursery was inadequate for the growing need,” said Sanccob CEO Natalie Maskell said on Friday. She said that 82% of the eggs have hatched successfully and 12,000 chicks have been raised under the chick bolstering programme.
All those that hatch successfully ... are released into the wild
— Natalie Maskell, Sanccob CEO
“All those that hatch successfully and make it to the juvenile stage (blues) are released into the wild.”
A bunch of fluffy grey chicks huddled together in the nursery’s new chick room on Friday, visible through a viewing pane.
The critically endangered African penguin — predicted to be extinct in the wild by 2035 — is threatened by increased incidents of extreme weather, predation and competition for food.
Storms, which flood the nests, and heat threaten their breeding success. This month, Sanccob rangers went out in driving rain to rescued eggs at Stoney Point, near Betty’s Bay, and in summer they rescued eggs abandoned because it is too hot.
“African penguins typically breed twice a year, producing two clutches and (on average) four chicks a year. But after they abandon the nest, they relay eggs and now they are trying many times a year,” Maskell said in an interview.
Relaying eggs out of the usual season puts the eggs and chicks at risk of failure, and then the breeding pair will try again putting them, and their wellbeing, under pressure. Sanccob has been saving eggs and rearing chicks since 2011.
The new nursery wing — donated by benefactor Pamela Isdell ahead of her recent death — can take up to 400 eggs for incubation and rearing, said resource developer Robyn Fraser-Knowles, pointing out the space and light.
Sanccob aims to release every seabird it can back into the wild. Injured birds are admitted into its emergency section and into theatre for surgery, or into ICU if needed, in the Table View centre. On Friday a penguin toy with a fake broken leg demonstrated how the surgery would be set up. A viewing window makes it possible for visitors to observe the surgeries.
Sanccob has a well-managed rehabilitation centre with separate pools and pens for seabirds at different stages of recovery. It has saved hundreds of seabirds from the harm of oil spills here with the help of volunteers.
The seabirds housed at the centre are 34 long-term residents which will never survive in the wild. Among the African penguins are birds with a spinal injury, an amputated foot, a beak defect and fused flippers.
Two rockhoppers which washed up on South African shores are among them. “We have one swift tern that has been released four times and always comes back,” said Fraser-Knowles.
“Our aim is always to get seabirds back into the wild. African penguins have a 90% release rate and are very resilient. They don’t imprint easily unlike bank cormorants,” she said.
Eleven Sanccob rangers based in the five African penguin breeding colonies of Stony Point, Robben Island, Boulders Beach, Bird and Dassen Islands monitor the seabirds and carry out the rescue of eggs, chicks and adults.
“The pressures African penguins face to secure food, from predators and from weather events are rising dramatically,” Maskell said.
“Every single egg and chick we raise is a chance to add back to the African penguin population.”
* Sanccob is open to the public and has tours on the hour every day for R60.
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