As the African penguin species inches towards extinction, BirdLife South Africa, CapeNature and SANCCOB have been working to re-establish this land-based penguin colony in the De Hoop Nature Reserve.
Among the leading causes behind the decline of African penguins have been food shortages. These are caused by shifts in the distributions of their prey species, namely declining small pelagic fish stocks and direct competition with a commercial purse-seine fishery for food.
By creating a safe breeding site for them and encouraging them to breed there, the project team is helping them “colonise areas with better fish availability”. A site selection process was conducted and De Hoop Nature Reserve was identified. The initial phase of the project, which began in early 2019, was to use techniques known as “social attraction” where conservationists try to mimic an existing penguin colony by installing penguin decoys.
There have now been 245 penguins released at the colony, thanks to SANCCOB’s rigorous egg and chick-rearing procedures. During the hand-rearing process, the SANCCOB team limits handling and interactions to a minimum.
As the colony is in a highly delicate and vulnerable stage, the teams are trying to cause as little disturbance as possible. A transponder (microchip) ground reader was installed, which can detect if a penguin walking across the antenna has an implanted microchip.
Full report in the November 2024 edition the Batis, SWBC’s quarterly magazine published to all members.