Abstract
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) population is estimated at 25,000 breeding pairs, approximately 5% of that at the start of the 20th century, and the species is currently classified as Endangered. In the last two decades, the hand-rearing of penguin chicks that were abandoned by their parents due to oil spills or other circumstances has become a valuable conservation tool to limit mortality and to bolster the population at specific colonies. We summarize and evaluate the techniques employed by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to incubate and hand-rear African penguin eggs and chicks. From 2012 to 2016, a total of 694 eggs and 2819 chicks were received by SANCCOB’s Chick Rearing Unit. It was estimated that 13% of the eggs were infertile, and 81% of the fertile eggs hatched successfully. The overall release rate for chicks was 77%, with a higher release rate for chicks that were pre-emptively removed (93%) followed by chicks that had been abandoned by their parents (78%), chicks admitted due to avian pox lesions (61%), chicks that hatched from artificially-incubated eggs (57%), and chicks admitted due to injuries or deformities (25%). Rescuing and hand-rearing eggs and chicks has been a successful strategy for African penguins, and might be also applicable for the conservation of other threatened seabird species whose population are critically low or during natural or anthropogenic events that could have disastrous population impacts (e.g. oil spills, disease outbreaks, catastrophic weather events, strong El Niño years, etc.).
Highlights
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is endemic to the greater Agulhas-Benguela upwelling ecosystem of southern Africa
The species’ population continued declining in the 21st century due to changes in the abundance, distribution and quality of food, and between 2001 and 2009 the number of African penguins further declined by 60%, reaching a global population of 26,000 breeding pairs (c. 83,200 individuals) and was reclassified as Vulnerable [4,5]
We summarize and evaluate the techniques that have been employed by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to incubate and hand-rear African penguin eggs and chicks since the implementation of their specialized Chick Rearing Unit in November 2011
Summary
The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is endemic to the greater Agulhas-Benguela upwelling ecosystem of southern Africa. Hand-rearing of African Penguins the start of the 20th century, when it was estimated at over 1.45 million adults [1]. African penguin eggs were harvested in large numbers, causing large-scale population declines [2]. By the late 1970s the population had declined to 220,000 adults, due to unsustainable egg harvesting and oil pollution [1,3]. By the 1990s only 179,000 adults remained due to massive disturbance and habitat alteration caused by the collection of guano [1], and the species was classified as Near Threatened [4]. The species’ population continued declining in the 21st century due to changes in the abundance, distribution and quality of food, and between 2001 and 2009 the number of African penguins further declined by 60%, reaching a global population of 26,000 breeding pairs The last assessment on the global population of African penguins was conducted in 2015 and estimated the global population at 25,000 breeding pairs (c. 80,000 individuals), and the species was classified as Endangered in 2010 [4]
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