JOIN the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr) and support African Penguin Awareness Day, held on the second Saturday of October each year.
The day is dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the endangered African penguin as it has seen a population reduction of 99 per cent since the beginning of the 20th century.
ALSO READ: Creating awareness around African Penguins
That is a drop from more than one million breeding pairs to less than 15 000 breeding pairs.
According to Saambr, at this rate of decline it is estimated the African penguin will be functionally extinct in the wild by 2035.
ALSO READ: Ushaka’s African Penguin couple make relationship status official
The human induced threats to the African penguin include the increasing seafood demand by humans, seawater temperature changes, oil spills, human disturbance at breeding colonies and penguins being caught in discarded fishing nets.
Saambr currently cares for a colony of more than 50 African penguins.
“The rehabilitation programme is very successful and, once rehabilitated, birds are released, unless their condition or injury prevents them from surviving the wild,” said Saambr’s animal welfare and behaviour manager, Gabby Harris.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
Do you want to receive news alerts via Telegram? Send us a message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple