SOUTH AFRICA: Orphaned penguins get their first taste of the ocean after being rescued ashore
- ITN Source
SOUTH AFRICA: Orphaned penguins get their first taste of the ocean after being rescued ashore
60 orphaned penguin chicks had their first taste of the ocean on Tuesday (December 19) off the coast of Cape Town, after being rescued by South African coastal birds conservationists. The chicks are part of the 800 rescued by the Southern Africa Foundation for Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), just as the world went penguin crazy over the new animated penguin movie "Happy Feet". The chicks, aged between hatchlings and 2 months old, were abandoned by their parents who were undergoing moulting (to lose their old feathers and get new feathers) while they still had young dependants. Throughout the moulting process, the parents are not waterproof, cannot fish and therefore cannot feed their chicks. Ultimately, the chicks would not have survived dehydration and starvation. The hand-rearing of the chicks has gone exceptionally well throughout the last two months and SANCCOB is planning to get as many of these orphans as possible home to their colonies for Christmas. 37 of the chicks (now fat, healthy teenagers) were released into the waters last week, and a further 60 on Tuesday. The African penguin population is continuing to decline, which makes each individual chick very precious to efforts to conserve this already vulnerable species.
ITN Source | December 24, 2006
