Fine foods for feathered friends
They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but this also seems true for the Garden Route’s feathered marine life.
Plettenberg Bay-based animal rehabilitation centre Tenikwa has been forking out thousands of rands every month to sustain the insatiable appetites of penguins that end up in their care after washing up on beaches along the Garden Route coastline.
And they need the nourishment so that they are strong and healthy to be released back into the wild.
Tenikwa is the only rehab centre in the region with the necessary permits and expertise to deal with these penguins and therefore they are very busy throughout the year.
Operations manager Cam Newton said last month alone they had 16 penguins in rehab, leading to a food bill of about R8 000. “Currently we have more than 20 at our facility,” he said.
Newton added that about 60% of their “patients” are marine animals and the majority are penguins. “Unfortunately they can’t just eat anything. They have to have pilchards which is quite expensive.”
In order to relieve some of the financial pressure, the centre together with the Nature’s Valley Trust (which helps organise penguin releases back to sea) and local fresh fish and food store Robberg Fine Foods (Tenikwa's food supplier) initiated a fundraising drive whereby the latter has set up a ring-fenced account for the public to donate funds for use by Tenikwa, to purchase fish for penguins and other seabirds.
As the centre covers the medical costs, staff and other expenses too, Newton said this would help them tremendously.
Robberg Fine Foods also offer the centre a discount on purchases and Birdlife Plettenberg Bay has kicked off donations with a R2 000 deposit.
Tenikwa’s work plays a major role in countering dwindling African penguin numbers. In the 1950s there were about 141 000 African penguins, but 60 years down the line there are only 19 300. Some of the main causes for this decline include overfishing by commercial fisheries, habitat destruction due to urban sprawl, and historical over-exploitation that includes extraction of eggs and nesting material used by humans for fertiliser.
In Plettenberg Bay these penguins are found feeding around the coast and often wash up on local beaches due to factors such as dehydration and exhaustion, among others.
Most penguins found in the Southern Cape are believed to be from the Port Elizabeth penguin colony and have ended up in the Plett area where food appears to be plentiful compared to other areas.
Newton said all the penguins are microchipped before their release, to keep track of them. “So far none of the penguins we have released have washed up again. Another rehab centre found one of our penguins flourishing in St. Helena Bay.”