Chick Bolstering Project

The Chick Bolstering Project is a collaborative effort between various organizations attempting to arrest the decline in the global numbers of African penguins through introducing hand-reared chicks back into the wild.

During the early summer months of 2006 and 2007, large numbers of African penguin chicks were abandoned by their moulting parents. CapeNature, SANCCOB and other partners decided to intervene by rescuing, hand-rearing and releasing these orphaned chicks. Between 2006 and 2008, a total of 1 424 chicks were admitted to SANCCOB for hand rearing and 742 out of a total of 1 194 chicks that were released (85.66%) were banded.

Evidence from recent research suggests that introduction of fledgling chicks has a significant impact on conserving wild populations (Barham et al 2008). Chicks which have been hand reared and released have shown higher survivorship to breeding age and higher fecundity than other birds. This therefore suggests that increasing the number of fledgling birds using hand-rearing as a tool to aid wild populations could help arrest the decline in overall numbers.

Project Objectives

1. assessing the breeding fidelity to rearing and release site of African penguin chicks
2. identify the factors that are needed to establish new, sustainable colonies
3. addressing the loss of African penguins by supplementing wild colonies with locally hand-reared birds
4. increasing of local capacity to hand rear African penguins for release into the wild at fledgling stage

As an ongoing effort by SANCCOB and our partners, the overall structure of the Chick Bolstering Project has several fundable components, including costs associated with rescuing and rearing of chicks during periods of mass abandonment, setting up of the hatchery and future research and implementation of establishing new wild colonies.

Working group partners

Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation
SANCCOB
CapeNature
Robben Island Museum
UCT - Animal Demography Unit (ADU)
Marine and Coastal Management (MCM)

Click here if you would like more information on how to get involved or want to become a sponsor of this ongoing working group.

tags chick bolstering project, rearing penguin chicks, bolstering wild populations,