AFRICAN PENGUIN CHICKS RESCUED

October 01, 2009 by dyertrust

On Lauren Wallers (PhD researcher) nest rounds last week she came across a nest where previously the adults were incubating two eggs. Being interested to see what happens to this nest as it is very late in the season for penguins to be incubating and they should be coming to the end of breeding and preparing for their moult fast.

Lauren found what she thought was two dead day old chicks in the nest that had possibly been abandoned by parents who had left for their pre-moult fattening. As she began collecting all the dead specimens the chicks peeped at her. The chicks were slowly dying of hunger and cold. They rushed the chicks inside the housing area at Dyer, blowing on them to keep them warm. The weaker one stopped breathing and the manager, Deon Geldenhuys from CapeNature