WORLD WORLDWIDE AFRICA SOUTH AFRICA - ANIMAL SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL - Fewer than 3,650 days remain until the African penguin is extinct.

 

View this email in your browser A critical penguin project in South Africa needs immediate support. Without it, African penguins may not survive. Donate now Share Tweet Forward Share Dear friends, African penguins have just been placed on the critically endangered list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with approximately 3,650 days left until they go extinct forever.   Starvation and human activity are threatening the species’ last, dwindling numbers – only 3% of the original population remain. With only 700 breeding pairs left in one of South Africa’s Algoa Bay colonies, the situation for African penguins is critical – and the time to act is now! Penguin chicks hatched in incubators after their eggs are abandoned are hand-reared until they are strong enough to be released. Credit: Reuters/Esa Alexander Alarmingly, as you read this, the fate of African penguins is hanging in the balance. Increasingly, parent penguins are dying from starvation – caused by rampant overfishing – and oil spills, which impact their ability to hunt, swim and regulate their body temperature.   When they die, their fertilized eggs are left untended; right now, there are abandoned fertilized penguin eggs waiting for parents who will never return. Without immediate intervention, these eggs will die, dashing hopes for the survival of the entire species. The most critical need right now is to rescue the fertilized eggs and take them to our partner’s specialized breeding facility. Penguin parents look after eggs together, with one caring for the eggs while the other hunts. With food resources dwindling, the hunting parents are dying of starvation at sea, forcing the carers to abandon their nests in search of food. Credit: Bernd Dittrich We are working with the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), an organization dedicated to conserving seabird populations in South Africa. It works closely with wildlife rangers in Algoa Bay – home to a critical breeding colony – who monitor the area to identify abandoned eggs, and birds in need of emergency care.   Penguin eggs cannot survive for longer than three days without warmth.   SANCCOB runs a successful chick-bolstering program which rescues and incubates these eggs, hand-rears chicks once hatched, and cares for them until they are strong enough to be released into protected and patrolled areas. The egg rescue program saves an impressive 90% of all eggs rescued. Every single life saved this way is critical for the species’ survival. Donate now Oil spills and pollution impact penguins’ ability to swim, hunt and thermoregulate, leading to hypothermia, starvation and death. Credit: Avian Demography Unit of UCT Every $1,000 (£770) we raise will empower our partner to rescue, incubate and raise a critically endangered penguin chick. With every egg crucial to the survival of the entire species, we must support this vital program. We cannot watch penguin numbers dwindle without doing everything we can to stop them disappearing forever.    Please help us save the African penguin – there is so little time left. Credit:  David Selbert SANCCOB works closely with government officials to curb the impacts of overfishing and progress has been made, most notably through fishing bans near penguin breeding colonies. However, it will be a while before these initiatives show a positive impact. Meanwhile, the threat of starvation and extinction still looms large.   The loss of even one chick has devastating effects on the entire African penguin population. Your contribution today, no matter its size, will make a difference in the fight to save the African Penguin from extinction. Please, donate right away. Saving animals and the planet, Campaign Director Animal Survival International P.S. African penguins could be extinct in less than a decade. We are fighting to save every life we can. Please, help African penguins by donating right away. Donate now Subscribe to our newsletter! Banner credit: Bernd Dittrich Please share this appeal with your colleagues, friends and family. Share Tweet Forward Share