Cold weather kills 600 endangered African penguins in the Eastern Cape

A sudden cold snap in the Eastern Cape has led to the death of around 600 African penguins on the Addo Elephant National Park’s Bird Island. The penguins, which are an endangered species as declared by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, experienced heavy losses of chicks due to extreme winds and cold, wet weather which, hit the Eastern Cape on Tuesday 15 June. By Thursday morning, the number of chick casualties had reached 600, despite the rescue efforts of park rangers who used all means possible to alleviate the situation with the lack of assistance from land due to rough seas. Rangers provided temporary shelters for the chicks and nests were drained of excess water, but unfortunately the vulnerable chicks continued to perish in the harsh conditions.

Thankfully, clearer weather on Thursday offered some sweet relief for the fragile penguin chicks and rescuers managed to airlift two injured adult penguins and five chicks from the island to a rehabilitation centre in Port Elizabeth.

Rangers will continue to assess the situation on Bird Island today and a decision will then be taken on whether to evacuate more penguin chicks for rehabilitation.