Freedom beckons for lucky penguins
PLETTENBERG BAY - Four rehabilitated African penguins have been given a clean bill of health and will be making their way back into the wild this Saturday, 25 November.
Their release is part of an initiative by different local environmental groups including the Tenikwa Wildlife Rehabilitation and Awareness Centre, the Nature's Valley Trust, Wessa beach stewards, CapeNature, the Orca Foundation and BirdLife Plettenberg Bay, to counter dwindling African penguin numbers.
Many penguins wash up on the beaches of Plettenberg Bay and surrounds due to factors such as dehydration, exhaustion, arrested moult or illness.
They are then nursed back to health and, after an all-clear, are released back into the wild.
On Saturday it is the turn of four African penguins dubbed Merlot, Bumble, Smurf and Maya who entered into rehabilitation at Tenikwa for a variety of reasons.
According to research, in the 1950s there were about 141 000 African penguins, but 60 years down the line there were only
19 300.
One of the main causes for this decline is overfishing by commercial fisheries that compete for fish such as sardines, anchovies and herring.
Another major cause is habitat destruction caused by an increase in urban sprawl and historical overexploitation. This includes extraction of eggs and nesting material used by humans for fertiliser.
Many penguins have been released in Plettenberg Bay over the past few years as part of a conservation effort to counter dwindling African penguin numbers.
Most of the penguins found in the Southern Cape are believed to be from the Gqeberha penguin colony that have ended up in the area on their quest to find food. Food appears to be plentiful in the Plett area while other areas are showing signs of food source dwindling.
Saturday's release, set to take place at 09:00 on Lookout Beach, also serves as a fundraising initiative for rescue work done in the area and therefore visitors are requested to make donations.
The release is made possible thanks to Tenikwa Wildlife Rehabilitation and Awareness Centre, Birdlife Plettenberg Bay, Plettenberg Bay Tourism, Robberg Veterinary Clinic, Bitou Municipality and Nature's Valley Trust.