Lone penguin finds home at uShaka Marine World
uShaka Marine World has welcomed its first stranded penguin of the year.
The South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr) has been hard at work, performing X-rays and nursing a stranded penguin back to health.
Admiral Paul, as he is now known, is an African penguin also known as the Jackass penguin (because of his donkey-like bray). The bird was rescued at Margate beach and examined at the Lower South Coast SPCA, where it was revealed that he, fortunately, had no visible injuries.
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According to uShaka Marine World Senior Animal Behaviourist Kelly de Klerk, Admiral Paul is approximately three months old and weighs 1.2 kgs, which is considered underweight as he should be at least 2 kgs.
“Despite being underweight, little Admiral is strong, feisty and already able to stand up on his own. This means that we are able to feed him small sardines which he is greedily accepting," said de Klerk.
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De Klerk further stated that the aim is for the bird to be strong enough to ‘fly’ back to Port Elizabeth into the care of Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) staff, who will prepare him for release.
Below is a video of Admiral Paul at the SPCA:
Update The little penguin has been checked out by our vet and is looking good so far. It’s been given fluids and is...
Posted by Spca Lower South on Thursday, 2 July 2020
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IMAGE CREDIT: Facebook/SPCA Lower South