From incubation to release: Hand-rearing as a tool for the conservation of the endangered African penguin.

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 infertil

SUBMITTER: Klusener R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6221267 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature