July marked a milestone for penguin powerhouses and seabird superheroes at SANCCOB as they celebrated the epic news that 1000 African Penguin hatchlings have been released back into the wild this year already!
Betty’s Bay, South Africa (31 July 2024) — 1000 African Penguin hatchlings have been released back into the wild this year already thanks to the seabird-centric efforts from the southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB)!
It’s a milestone moment for the team who shared the news earlier this month.
As SANCCOB shares, it’s the only organisation in the world that artificially incubates and hatches African Penguin eggs before they’re hand-reared and eventually released. This makes SANCCOB’s efforts for the most endangered penguin species (predicted to be extinct in 2035) not only innovative, but imperatively impactful.
The 1000 hatchlings milestone (which took place Stony Point, Betty’s Bay) rides the coattails of years of hard work from the penguin powerhouses and seabird superheroes. For years, their awareness initiatives, fundraisers, rescues and rehabilitation efforts have kept many a penguin waddling proudly, and many more South Africans in the know of Southern Africa’s endemic penguins.
“Since 2011, our efforts in Gqeberha and Western Cape regions have yielded incredible results with a total of 7185 wild chicks and hatchlings released,” the team share.
From staff to volunteers, penguin waddlers and artivists, one hatchling’s waddle into the wild is an entire South Africa’s win for wildlife. But, the call for celebration is also a louder call to doing more.
You can find out more about how to support SANCCOB and its mission, here.