PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Plettenberg Bay's Lookout Beach will soon be alive with the pitter-patter of penguin feet again when a group of rehabilitated African penguins dash back into the wild.
The regular release of penguins that have been nursed back to health following an array of ailments, has become a popular sight in the coastal holiday town over the past four years.
Come 10 September another group of these plucky marine animals will make their way down Lookout Beach into the ocean.
The releases are part of an effort by various conservationists 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 Plettenberg Bay and surrounding beaches due to factors such as dehydration, exhaustion, arrested moult or illness.
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 for fish such as sardines, anchovies and herring.
Another major cause is habitat destruction caused by an increase in urban sprawl, as well as historical overexploitation. This includes extraction of eggs and nesting material used by humans for fertilisers.
Most of the penguins found in the Southern Cape are believed to be from the Port Elizabeth penguin colony and 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 sources dwindling.
These birds are rehabilitated at Tenikwa on the outskirts of Plettenberg Bay where they are nursed back to health. They are then systematically released back into the wild.
The release is open to the public and will take place at 09:00.
'We bring you the latest Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route news'
