ANIMAL RESCUE
CREATURES great and (very) small
During December 2020 and January and February this year, NSRI volunteers responded to assist a number of animals in distress. By Wendy Maritz ABANDONED BABIES On Tuesday 12 January, Station 3 (Table Bay) volunteers were asked by SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) to help in an ongoing rescue operation involving the evacuation of a large number of Cape cormorant chicks that appeared to have been abandoned by the adults in the colony on Robben Island. SANCCOB rangers on the island were monitoring the situation and grew concerned for the babies’ wellbeing when the parents failed to return. They had also started becoming easy prey for kelp gulls and ibises. A decision was made to intervene, and additional SANCCOB rangers, along with staff from the Two Oceans Aquarium and the Robben Island Museum, began gathering the chicks into boxes to be brought to SANCCOB for care and protection. When the request for assistance came in, Station 3 launched Spirit of Vodacom, with a SANCCOB ranger on board, and on arrival at the island were guided to its northern side to begin collecting the chicks. A total of 128 chicks, loaded 44 |
SEA RESCUE AUTUMN 2021
into 16 boxes, were brought to Murray’s Bay Harbour, loaded onto Spirit of Vodacom and taken to the base. From there the birds were taken to SANCCOB for further care. The reasons for the abandonment are not clear, but it’s believed that declining stocks of small fish in the area have affected breeding cycles in the Cape cormorant as well as other marine bird colonies. Sadly, Cape cormorants are considered endangered because there has been a steep decline in numbers over the last three generations. SANCCOB’s Cape Town centre in Table View is caring for 1 170 Cape cormorant chicks, and staff are hoping to get them as healthy as possible before returning them to the wild. This avian rescue operation was the largest one undertaken in the Western Cape since the oil spill of the MV Treasure in 2020.
