The first batch of Namibian penguins released in Cape Town in May after they had to be cleaned up due to an oil spill have returned to Mercury Island off the coast of Namibia, where they appear to be doing well.
The South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) said on Monday that the first penguin, nicknamed Black Angus by Sanccob staff, took 18 days to swim the 1 019km home, arriving on the island on June 8.
They said the penguin had stood out "as the feistiest" of the 129 penguins that were rehabilitiated at Sanccob's Table View centre.
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Sanccob transported the penguins, which became oiled by a slick from an unknown source in April, by truck to Cape Town at the request of the Namibian authorities, who did not have the staff or facilities to handle so many oiled birds.
Sanccob agreed to help because the numbers of African penguins have dropped enormously in the past few decades and the species is regarded as threatened.
After being cleaned and fattened for four weeks, the birds were released near Bloubergstrand to swim back to Mercury Island.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on June 16, 2009
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