At a South African clinic, a small fish is used to coax an emaciated penguin into eating. The bird is among dozens undergoing treatment at the dedicated rehabilitation center in Gqeberha. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) operates the center and is on a mission to save African penguins from extinction resulting from climate change and human activity. Caitlin van der Merwe, a seabird ranger at SANCCOB, explains: “We are trying to reverse some of the human damage caused to these birds over the years.”
The African penguin, an endangered species that waddles awkwardly on land but turns into a fast-swimming torpedo in water, has suffered a drastic decline in numbers. About 50,000 mating pairs used to inhabit the shorelines of South Africa and Namibia three decades ago, and now only 10,000 pairs remain. This is an alarming 80% population decrease, and zoologists regard a healthy penguin population as indicative of a healthy marine ecosystem. “A declining species means there’s a big issue in the marine environment,” says Carl Havemann, who heads the penguin clinic.
Climate Threat
The seabird rehabilitation center is currently treating about 100 birds, both young and adult, due to heavy rains that washed away nests and chicks. Normally, the African penguins dig their nests into a thick layer of guano, a mixture of droppings and remains that accumulate over time. However, the guano that serves as the birds’ organic substance has been used as natural fertilizer, leaving the penguins to make do with branches or cracks in rocks, which are less sturdy. Furthermore, the birds are only covered in gray plumage for their first three months of life, and this plumage offers little protection from water and cold.
As a result of these modifications to their natural habitat, many have drowned or died of hypothermia. “With climate change, weather events are becoming more and more extreme, and these obviously impact the natural colonies,” Havemann explains.
Rehabilitation Efforts
The rehabilitation center at SANCCOB is teeming with feathered patients. Over the last two weeks, about 40 baby penguins have been transferred to Gqeberha’s rehabilitation center from Bird Island, one of Africa’s largest penguin colonies situated about 60 kilometers offshore. Footbaths, sardines, and medicines, along with disinfecting, stitching, and bandaging wounds, are all part of the treatment for the surviving penguins.
The center houses both young and adult penguins and aims to return them to the wild as soon as possible while limiting human interaction to necessary medical treatments. Some penguins have a small tube inserted in their gullets to keep them hydrated, and some have been given antibiotics for borreliosis, an infectious disease caused by bacteria.
Unfortunately, besides climate change, the African penguins are also facing threats from diseases, overfishing, and pollution. With Gqeberha being home to a major port, spills from huge cargo ships refueling offshore have led to frantic efforts to rescue and clean up oil-tarred penguins. According to the Environment Ministry, at current population decline rates, African penguins could become extinct within a decade.
“The ocean is a complex ecosystem,” says van der Merwe. “If we take bits here and there, the entire system will collapse.”
© 2023 AFP
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S.Africa clinic hopes to save penguins’ future (2023, June 14)
retrieved 14 June 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-06-safrica-clinic-penguins-future.html
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