PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Three more endangered African penguins recently waddled toward a second shot at living in the wild after months in rehabilitation.
The three were released as part of a concerted effort to boost endangered African penguin numbers.
The release programme is 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.
Penguins have been released several times in the past three years in an effort 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.
Some 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 over-exploitation. 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 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.
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.
On Saturday 18 December, three juvenile penguins were released on Lookout Beach to the delight of a crowd of eager onlookers.
Not only did the three heed Mother Nature's call and waddle straight down the beach into the water, but their release also brought in much-needed funding for other members of their species that might end up needing rehabilitation. Birdlife Plettenberg Bay collected money for the seabird feeding account at Robberg Fine Foods in aid of Tenikwa.
The penguins await their walk to freedom on Lookout Beach.
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