Rescued youngsters released back on to Bird Island
December 2010: Forty-nine endangered African penguin juveniles have been given a new lease of life after being successfully released on to Bird Island following a rehabilitation process.
The juveniles were removed as chicks from Bird Island, which forms part of Addo Elephant National Park, in mid October when extreme cold, wet and windy weather threatened their survival. The harsh weather followed similarly brutal conditions in June which caused the death of 1,000 African penguins on the island.
When the second set of extreme weather hit in October, South African National Parks (SANParks) lifted the ailing penguin chicks off the island by helicopter to two rehabilitation centres for specialised care. SANParks has also taken extra precautions in the meantime by providing artificial shelters for penguins and using material to drain nest sites to aid penguin chick survival.
The birds have already joined the rest of the colony
Now, after a three-hour boat journey, the three-month-old chicks were released onto the slipway at Bird Island and soon joined the rest of the African penguin colony. The youngsters are expected to do well as they are now able to forage for themselves. They have all been tagged and their progress will be closely monitored.
Meanwhile, care of the remaining penguin chicks at the rehabilitation centres continues with the aim of releasing them back into the wild in the future.
There are about 1,300 breeding pairs of African penguins on Bird Island and about 2,500 breeding pairs on St Croix Island, home to the largest African Penguin breeding colony in the world.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/penguins-bird-island.html
Showing posts with label african penguin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label african penguin. Show all posts
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Penguin chicks released after rescue in South Africa
Rescued youngsters released back on to Bird Island
December 2010: Forty-nine endangered African penguin juveniles have been given a new lease of life after being successfully released on to Bird Island following a rehabilitation process.
The juveniles were removed as chicks from Bird Island, which forms part of Addo Elephant National Park, in mid October when extreme cold, wet and windy weather threatened their survival. The harsh weather followed similarly brutal conditions in June which caused the death of 1,000 African penguins on the island.
When the second set of extreme weather hit in October, South African National Parks (SANParks) lifted the ailing penguin chicks off the island by helicopter to two rehabilitation centres for specialised care. SANParks has also taken extra precautions in the meantime by providing artificial shelters for penguins and using material to drain nest sites to aid penguin chick survival.
The birds have already joined the rest of the colony
Now, after a three-hour boat journey, the three-month-old chicks were released onto the slipway at Bird Island and soon joined the rest of the African penguin colony. The youngsters are expected to do well as they are now able to forage for themselves. They have all been tagged and their progress will be closely monitored.
Meanwhile, care of the remaining penguin chicks at the rehabilitation centres continues with the aim of releasing them back into the wild in the future.
There are about 1,300 breeding pairs of African penguins on Bird Island and about 2,500 breeding pairs on St Croix Island, home to the largest African Penguin breeding colony in the world.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/penguins-bird-island.html
December 2010: Forty-nine endangered African penguin juveniles have been given a new lease of life after being successfully released on to Bird Island following a rehabilitation process.
The juveniles were removed as chicks from Bird Island, which forms part of Addo Elephant National Park, in mid October when extreme cold, wet and windy weather threatened their survival. The harsh weather followed similarly brutal conditions in June which caused the death of 1,000 African penguins on the island.
When the second set of extreme weather hit in October, South African National Parks (SANParks) lifted the ailing penguin chicks off the island by helicopter to two rehabilitation centres for specialised care. SANParks has also taken extra precautions in the meantime by providing artificial shelters for penguins and using material to drain nest sites to aid penguin chick survival.
The birds have already joined the rest of the colony
Now, after a three-hour boat journey, the three-month-old chicks were released onto the slipway at Bird Island and soon joined the rest of the African penguin colony. The youngsters are expected to do well as they are now able to forage for themselves. They have all been tagged and their progress will be closely monitored.
Meanwhile, care of the remaining penguin chicks at the rehabilitation centres continues with the aim of releasing them back into the wild in the future.
There are about 1,300 breeding pairs of African penguins on Bird Island and about 2,500 breeding pairs on St Croix Island, home to the largest African Penguin breeding colony in the world.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/penguins-bird-island.html
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Santa Penguins Wish Visitors A Flappy Xmas
11:15am UK, Saturday December 12, 2009
Damien Pearse, Sky News Online
Five penguin siblings are bringing festive cheer to visitors at a Japanese aquarium by waddling about in little Santa Claus outfits.
The African Penguins have been dressed up in the red and white costumes by workers at the Matsue Vogel Park in Shimane Prefecture.
Little bells have been hung around their necks so the birds jingle as they make their way around the park.
"We also have a Christmas tree made of a plant so people can take pictures with the penguins," said an unidentified employee.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Penguins-Dressed-As-Santa-In-Japan-Are-Delighting-Tourists-At-Matsue-Vogel-Park/Article/200912215498684?f=rss
Santa Penguins Wish Visitors A Flappy Xmas
11:15am UK, Saturday December 12, 2009
Damien Pearse, Sky News Online
Five penguin siblings are bringing festive cheer to visitors at a Japanese aquarium by waddling about in little Santa Claus outfits.
The African Penguins have been dressed up in the red and white costumes by workers at the Matsue Vogel Park in Shimane Prefecture.
Little bells have been hung around their necks so the birds jingle as they make their way around the park.
"We also have a Christmas tree made of a plant so people can take pictures with the penguins," said an unidentified employee.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Penguins-Dressed-As-Santa-In-Japan-Are-Delighting-Tourists-At-Matsue-Vogel-Park/Article/200912215498684?f=rss
Sunday, June 28, 2009
I share my home with 11 cats - four cheetahs, five lions and two tigers
Sharing a bed with your furry friend has taken on a whole new meaning for Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen.
But Riana's real dream was fully realised after she set up the not-for-profit Fiela Funds Cheetah Breeding Project in South Africa to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and their ecosystem.
The sanctuary worker shares her South African home with not one but FOUR orphaned cheetahs, five lions and two tigers.
Forty-six-year-old Riana said: 'I love them all. But they're a handful.'
Riana bought her first cheetah, Fiela in 2006, after realising the big cats were in trouble and heading for extinction with only 1000 left in Africa.
She left her full time job working for the department of justice - a position she had held for 22 years - and found temporary employment on a game ranch where she could raise her beloved big cat.
But Riana's real dream was fully realised after she set up the not-for-profit Fiela Funds Cheetah Breeding Project in South Africa to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and their ecosystem.
The project spreads over a hectare of land and visitors can meet Fiela and the other cats and even have their pictures taken.
And if you want to outdo your friends in the wedding photo stakes the project also offers newly weds the chance to be snapped cuddling up to a big cat.
The cats in Riana's own home are truly part of the family and are allowed to roam freely.
They make it known when they are hungry, even jumping up onto work surfaces in an attempt to snatch a bite of whatever's going.
Luckily Riana's two dogs aren't on the menu but instead romp with the cats and even snuggle down with them for a snooze.
The cheetahs have even been known to sit in on the odd card game but whether they offered any cat-like-cunning or poker faces is unknown.
By Amy Oliver
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Battle To Save Penguins Facing Extinction
Conservationists are warning that a rare species of penguin could face extinction unless urgent action is taken to protect it.African penguins which nest around the southern coastline of the continent are under threat from commercial fishing and oil spills.
In the past century the population of the birds has declined by 90%, leaving just 26,000 breeding pairs left in the wild.
If the current rate of decline continues the African penguin, also known as the jackass penguin because of its donkey-like bray, could be extinct by 2024.
In South Africa, researchers are closely monitoring every penguin colony to gather data to present to the government as part of a campaign for fishing exclusion zones.
On the remote Dyer Island, off the coast of Cape Town, Lauren Waller and her colleague Deon Geldenhuys spend each day measuring and weighing the penguin chicks.
Their condition reckoned to be a good indicator of the availability of fish around the island because they are totally dependent on their parents' ability to find food.
"We're finding more underweight chicks, and more chicks that have been abandoned," Lauren said.
Dyer Island - uninhabited by humans - is a protected site for sea birds. But the protection does not extend out to sea.
Fishing of sardines and other pelagic fish in the area is unrestricted which means that the penguins have to compete with the trawlers for food.
The researchers have attached small GPS devices to some of the adult birds to see how far they are travelling.
"We've found that the Dyer Island birds are swimming 40 kilometres to fish, and that is at the very limit of the distance they can travel when they have chicks," Lauren said.
Penguins mate for life and the breeding pairs take it in turns to find food while the other stays with the chicks.
The distances involved mean the adult penguins are increasingly vulnerable to seal attacks and oil spills out at sea, while their young go hungry back in the nest.
At the Southern African Foundation For The Conservation Of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in Cape Town hundreds of injured and oiled penguins are rescued every year.
"Most of the time the oil spills aren't even reported, but every day we get penguins in here who are close to death because they have been covered in oil," said Venessa Strauss, the centre's CEO.
Saving the birds is labour-intensive. It takes four people to clean each bird, and they then have to be fed three times a day - by hand.
The penguins are eventually returned to the wild in the hope that they will help boost the falling numbers.
Climate change is exacerbating the problem, shifting the location of the fish and also making the penguins vulnerable to over-heating on the land.
Around the Western Cape researchers are experimenting with artificial nests made of fibre glass to try to keep the chicks out of the sun.
On Dyer Island the penguins have been quick to move into the burrow shaped structures, each pair closely guarding their new homes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)