Join us to help the penguin!
In order to help the African penguin we are focussing to start a new rehabilitation centre for SAPREC close to the sea. We need dedicated NGO's and companies who are willing to help establishing this centre and give the penguin a second chance. The new centre facilitates:
- Medical and Rehabilitation facilities
- A sanctuary for penguins that cannot return to the wild
- Research for penguin behavior
- Breeding program
- Information centre to tell people about the penguin
Let us stand together to help the penguin! For more information please send an e-mail to: info@worldofwildlife.nl.
SAPREC opened the doors of the current penguin and seabird rehabilitation centre in 2005. The centre takes care of hundreds of penguins and seabirds like albatrosses, gannets, sea-gull and cormorants per year, with the goal to release them in the wild as soon as possible. The years before SAPREC founder Carol Walton took care of the penguins and seabirds in the garage next to her house. When penguins where sleeping in here bedroom, Carol’s husband Richard suggested to start a professional rehab centre. A veterinarian who is strongly involved with penguins and carol’s passionate work, offered a part of land to establish a basic facility.
In the rehab centre stays a group of penguins that could not survive in the wild because of their health situation. Luckily the majority of the intercepted animals can be released within a period of several weeks to some months. Carol, her assistant and only employee with a salary Pete and the volunteers who come over every week to take care of the birds, have the tears in their eyes every time they release panguins back in the wild. They are sad because the penguins leave the centre and happy because have been able to rehabilitate an animal. Passion and strong involvement are the driving forces of this project.
SAPREC takes care of seabirds that washes up on the beach over a length of 250 kilometre. This makes it labour and costs intensive. Unfortunately there is a limited interest and contribution of the local businesses.
Penguins in Africa
Most people think about Antarctica when they think about penguins, but also in the south of Australia, Argentina and South Africa do live penguins. Most penguins in zoos are the African penguins. Unfortenately the penguin is not doing well. In the last decades their population reduced with 90%. To less then 100,000 today. It is assumed that there are less than 28,000 nesting pairs left. broedende paren.
Problems for the penguins The major threats for the penguins are pollution and overfishing of sardines in the penguin habitat. The area around Cape of good Hope is the natural habitat of the penguin, but also a significant location for ocean ships to refuel. Gas stations on the mainland pump thousands of litres of oil fuel from land to the ships. Sometimes this fails and the oil besmears the penguins. Fisherman are catching to many sardines, the main course of the penguins. Once per year the penguin goes into moult. In this period their fur is not water proof and they have to stay on land for 3 weeks without food. This costs them a lot of energy. Because of the lack of fish, a significant number of penguins cannot succeed the moult and die from starvation on the beach. Luckily with some extra food, medicine and care these penguins can be rehabilitated.
