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Campaign to save starving penguin chicks
While the world falls in love with Monty, the adorable penguin from the John Lewis Christmas ad, Bristol Zoo is renewing an appeal to save hundreds of starving African penguins.
The zoo has been involved in the conservation of African penguins for the past eight years years and Director of Conservation, Dr Christoph Schwitzer, said the situation is critical: “African penguin populations are currently facing a crisis due to a diminished food supply near their nesting colonies, there is a substantial risk that this species could eventually become extinct without action.”
The population of African penguins has fallen by 70% in just over a decade and is continuing to decline.
Every winter, hundreds of African penguin chicks, who have been abandoned by their parents foraging for food, are rescued by a rehabilitation centre in South Africa, in a project led by Bristol Zoo.
is needed now More than ever
This year, African penguin chicks are coming in early and in their hundreds from the colonies. The rehabilitation centre is already caring for 430 chicks and this number continues to grow.
Compounding the crisis is the rising price of fish used to feed the chicks. The charity needs to find an extra £20,000 before Christmas to buy food and has launched a fund raising appeal.
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