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Some of the 20,000 oiled African
penguins on Robben Island before being captured.
Photo: Jon Hrusa /IFAW
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On June 23,
2000 the damaged bulk ore carrier MV Treasure sank
off the coast of South Africa between Dassen and Robben
islands, which support the largest and third largest
colonies of African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus),
worldwide. The worldwide population of African penguins
is numbered at less than 180,000 and dwindling. The
ship spilled over 1,300 tons of bunker oil, which
immediately oiled thousands of penguins on and around
the islands.
The International Bird Rescue Research
Center response team was immediately mobilized by
the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
who helped organize the rehabilitation effort of over 20,000 oiled penguins.
In addition to the rehabilitation program,
there was a massive pre-emptive capture program initiated
on the islands and it was successful in relocating
over 19,500 non-oiled penguins. At this time, over
90% of the oiled birds have been rehabilitated and
released.
While the number of oiled birds was staggering,
the IBRRC response team was experienced with large
scale spills effecting penguins, as they have responded
to three previous spills in Cape Town, the largest
of which was the Apollo Sea spill.
In 1994, six years
previous to the Treasure spill,
almost 10,000 African penguins
were oiled from the sinking
of the Apollo Sea bulk ore
carrier. Of those oiled penguins,
over 4,700 were rehabilitated
and released. Immediately
after the Apollo Sea spill,
local trustees in Cape Town
began a monitoring program
on the nearby breeding islands
of Robben and Dassen. Biologists
have spent the last six years
monitoring these breeding
colonies and have found that
seventy-five percent of the
rehabilitated birds have been
seen on the island and that
the birds were breeding at
normal mortality rates three
years post spill.
Parliament's
poached penguin eggs
and the Great Guano
War
While these study results are very exciting,
the International Bird Rescue Research Center continues
to research the effects of oil on wildlife in an effort
to provide the best achievable care for oiled animals.
Our protocols have advanced greatly since 1994, as
research has shown new and better ways to provide
care to oiled animals. With new advancements in the
field, there is strong evidence that a much higher
percentage of the oiled penguins from the Treasure
spill will survive to breed again.
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