On Saturday 31 December, the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary returned another 13 African penguins to their home on Dyer Island.
A total of 215 chicks were removed since the beginning of November and hand-raised at the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary (APSS), a project of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. The removal of compromised and orphaned chicks is one of the actions to try to stabilise the declining African penguin population and is part of the African Penguin Biodiversity Management Plan of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.
Over the last 30 years (three generations), the number of African penguins breeding in South Africa has declined by 73% from ~42,500 breeding pairs in 1991 to ~10,400 pairs in 2021 (Sherley et al. 2021).
The chicks are removed at the end of the breeding season, when the adults go through their annual moult. Due to a variety of circumstance, some parents start their moult before their offspring has reached the fledgling stage. These chicks will either starve to death on the island or venture into the ocean without the required amount of fat reserves to allow them to survive the challenges of the wild.
We want to thank our amazing team at APSS for taking care of these fluffy little ones, making sure their tummies are full, twice a day, right through the festive season!
And, like the little ones, we are also struggling to say goodbye to Jade Sookhoo (Marine Biologist and Penguin Rehabilitator), who will be moving on to new marine ventures. Good luck Jade! Thank you for all the babies you’ve raised.
Please help us to replenish our bank account, after depleting it to look after our African Penguin babies, but clicking on the link below.
https://www.givengain.com/cc/project-sisonke-sikhula–together-we-grow/
https://dict.org.za/…/african-penguin-seabird-sanctuary/
For more information contact DICT Project Support and Public Relations Officer: Christine Wessels