Follow up to the great excitement on 21 January in Cape St. Francis when a King penquin was rescued.

The King Penquin Elvis, as he is fondly known by his rescuers, (you know, King of Rock; King of penguins) was found at Rebel’s Rus, a secluded beach off Cape St Francis, by someone taking an early morning walk. He was just standing there, admiring the view.
Originating from the Sub-Antarctic Islands, which include Marion Islands and Prince Edward Islands, this little King, was a long way off course!
According to Trudi Malan of Ajubatus, the Marine Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, operating from Cape St Francis, Elvis, was in his moulting process. During this time he is not waterproof, and is unable to fish for his own prey. Trudi explained that penguins feed themselves up before they moult, and while their new feathers start to arrive, have to sit this time out on dry ground. Their fat reserves, if they are well prepared, should last them their entire moulting period.
Normally they would hunt around their breeding ground, but Trudi guesses that Elvis got a bit carried away (literally), and by the time he discovered he was in moult, had to stop off on the nearest piece of land, which happened to be Cape St Francis.
Elvis weighed in at 12.5kg, slightly below the average weight of a King Penguin, which normally weighs between 14 – 16kg. He is 85cm tall, and has settled in well at the rehabilitation facility.
He is being tested for Avian Malaria, which is not transmittable to humans, and Babezia, also an animal disease. His first test has come back clear, so hopes are up that Elvis will be able to return to the sea. Trudi explained further how critical it is for penguins to be free of all disease before they are allowed back into their natural environment: “Whole islands of birds can be wiped out by one sick penguin,” she said.
Even if Elvis passes the test, permission still has to be granted by Marine and Coastal Management, before he can be released. Ajubatus is a non-governmental organisation aimed at the rescue and rehabilitation of marine birds with specific focus on the highly endangered African Penguin. They are completely self funded and rely heavily on donations and fund-raising efforts to support their cause. The centre is the only functional rehabilitation centre in the Eastern Cape and is able to treat up to 200 penguins at any one time.
Visitors are afforded the opportunity to view the penguins currently in residence at the facility. They can also take a guided tour of the historic Seal Point Lighthouse as well as indulge in the mouth-watering cakes and light meals at the Coffee Shop.
This is a worthwhile experience so if you are in the area visit Elvis and enjoy a great cup of coffee and snack at the seaside.

KING PENGUIN TREATED AT AJUBATUS

On Tuesday the 10^th April 2007 I was privileged to meet Elvis the King Penquin – he is magnificent and by this time had already shown a vast improvement in his condition after the loving care at the Rehab Centre in Cape St Francis Bay. Here is his story sent to me by Anita Lennox of Cape St Francis Bay Resort.

On Monday morning 22^nd January we received a call from Bay World in Port Elizabeth saying that someone had spotted a penguin “that didn’t quite look like an African Penguin” at Rebels Rust. Hennie de Beer from Eastern Cape Nature Conservation so happened to be at our offices at the time and he and Trudi Malan, our operations director set off to see this penguin “that didn’t quite look like an African Penguin.”

When they returned at lunchtime I casually strolled over to the Rehab Centre to see what penguin they had brought in. I was a bit mystified to see them both struggling to lift a crate; until I saw what was in the crate. What was in the crate was one big bird. It took a while for the cogs of this old brain to click that this was indeed a penguin.

“Didn’t quite look like an African Penguin” was an understatement of note. We think that an African Penguin weighing in at 4Kg is big. This penguin weighed in at over 12Kg. This was a King Penguin, not as big as the Emperor, but big enough. When Trudi started to talk about us tubing it I did what all sensible volunteers would do when faced with the ordeal of having to tube such a huge penguin. I went and hid in the Ajubatus Coffee Shop we have on site.

(Tubing involves forcing a tube down, for the most, some very reluctant penguin’s throat. This tube is attached to a syringe that contains a re-hydrating fluid. This is standard procedure for all rescued penguins as they are always dehydrated.)

In the Coffee Shop I found Hennie slumped over one of the tables utterly exhausted and also dehydrated, but not so exhausted that he could not tell me excitedly how in fact the King Penguin was eventually located miles from nowhere. I was informed how an old fish crate was modified with the aid of a pocket knife MacGyver style. An old washed up piece driftwood branch was found and together with the old fish crate, like the Egyptian Queens this King Penguin was transported in a litter for over 2 kilometres on the strong but aching shoulders of Trudi and Hennie.

Unfortunately for me Trudi found me in the coffee shop and insisted that I help her tube this gi-normous penguin. A bite from an African Penguin is bad enough, but looking at the bill of this King Penguin I imagined my arm being mistaken for a fish and disappearing down the King’s throat; or worse still being impaled by this beak as long as a Zulu spear. Assurances that the King Penguin was not as aggressive as the African Penguin did little to still my shaking knees.

The King penguin can be found Macquarie, Marion, Prince Edward, Heard, Kerguelen and the Crozet Islands, South Georgia and the northern islands of the South Sandwich chain. Unlike the Emperor Penguin that breeds on sea ice, the King Penguin by contrast live in a world of mud, tussock grass and westerly gales. Emperor and King Penguins are the largest of the modern penguins; the Emperor being only slighter taller than the King, but weighing almost twice as much.

Emperor: 65lb – 29.5 Kg: 45in – 1.14 Metres.

King: 35lb - 15,9Kg 37in – 0.94 Metre

This is only the third sighting of a King Penguin along the South African coast.