Two Oceans Aquarium Senior Bird Trainer Hayley McLellan is a passionate activist. Aside from walking the talk as part of the annual Waddle for a Week campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered African penguin, she also canvasses nationwide for the banning of the single-use plastic bag.
The amazing African penguin, Ayoba, turns two years old this Wednesday, 25 July 2012. Ayoba hatched at the Sappi River Meander in 2010 – right in the middle of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, hence his great name.
Generally all of the African penguin chicks bred at the Two Oceans Aquarium are sent to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) at the age of about three months, and once there they are put through a rehabilitation-for-release process. The chicks are released in groups into the breeding colonies around Cape Town such as Robben Island, Boulders Beach, Dassen Island and Stony Point at Betty’s Bay.
The African penguin is endemic to our coast and considered to be an indicator species. Much like bees and frogs they indicate to us the status of the environment, possibly alerting us to problems in nature that need to be addressed by humans.
The bad news is that the African penguin is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species due to their radical decline in numbers over the past few decades. It is estimated that there were approximately 1.5-million birds around our coast 100 years ago, and today there are less than 60 000 birds remaining. Research shows that this species may well be lost to extinction within the next 15 years if we do not figure out what the influencing variables are.
It is easy to focus on the problems and find ourselves feeling somewhat “eco-depressed”, but this achieves nothing positive. So let’s rather look at the good work that is being done towards preserving the species. There are many individuals and organisations worldwide that care enough and are doing great work! Let’s look at two of these.
The Two Oceans Aquarium
The Two Oceans Aquarium is one place where you are able to come up close to these African icons and learn so much about them. Here is an opportunity for you to really connect with these seabirds and feel their plight to the point where you will actually want to make a difference for the species.
Penguin Promises
The next step would be to visit www.penguinpromises.com. This multi-party campaign has been very effective in showing people that every one of us can make a difference. Visit the website for more information and find yourself feeling empowered to be the change you wish to sea in the world.
That’s Ayoba!
In July 2010, South Africa celebrated (and hosted) the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Here at the Two Oceans Aquarium, we celebrated the successful hatching out of another season of African penguin chicks! We were in need of an additional male in our colony, as we had a single female who would shortly be requiring a breeding partner, so we decided to hold back one of the male chicks.
And so … That is how Ayoba came to be a part of our resident African penguin family. Currently in his juvenile years, he has proven to be a handsome and tenacious youngster and we have identified him as a most suitable mate for Zuki, our other African penguin ambassador, once he matures (from about three years onwards). Let’s hope they feel the same way we do!
For now, Ayoba seems to shun any advances made by this mature female, but we continue to have hope.
Ayoba is easily distinguished from any other birds on the beach as he developed a double, instead of single, band of black striping across his chest. We will celebrate his second birthday this Wednesday, 25 July 2012. It will be great if you could come and deliver you birthday wishes to him personally!
Click here to view pics of Ayoba’s first birthday.
We feed the African penguins daily at 11h45 and 14h30.
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