The quarantine has been lifted at The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds’ (Sanccob) centre in Table View, after receiving negative results for Avian Influenza.
Since then, Sanccob has released 342 rehabilitated and hand-reared seabirds, of which 86% were African penguins.
Of the 294 African penguins released, 36 were returned to the wild at De Hoop Nature Reserve – the first release of penguins at this site for 2023, in collaboration with BirdLife South Africa and CapeNature to re-establish a new penguin colony.
According to Sanccob, it was a challenging time for the seabirds undergoing rehabilitation, and for their team of staff, interns and volunteers, “but we have managed to overcome it, and are privileged to have local and global funders who came to our aid. Today we celebrate all the African penguins and seabirds we have set free to bolster the population in the wild.”
This untreatable virus has swept across the globe causing high mortality among terrestrial and marine birds, and since 2018 was detected in seabirds in South Africa during Sanccob’s disease surveillance work.
First release for 2023
On Sunday 8 January Sanccob successfully released 51 African penguins at the Stony Point colony in Betty’s Bay, as well as five rehabilitated Kelp gulls and a Black-headed heron.
Sanccob’s seabird hospital in Cape Town has been under quarantine since the end of November 2022 following an outbreak of Avian Influenza.
“The release of the seabirds is an incredible achievement and serves as a testament to the diligent efforts of all Sanccob staff and volunteers to adhere to the strict biosecurity measures which prevented the spread of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza disease.”
Releasing of birds
Before Sanccob can release any birds, they must be kept in an isolated area where all the birds are free from symptoms and test negative for avian influenza.
The organisation previously said they would continue to work closely with the Department of Agriculture on a testing and release strategy that minimises risk to seabirds in the wild.
Sanccob’s head of conservation, Nicky Stander, said: “We are very grateful to every person and entity who have contributed to this first set of successful releases; we could not have achieved this without the financial and on-site support received, and the hard work of all individuals who have played a role.”
