Following habitat destruction from heavy rains, the SeaWorld Conservation Fund made an emergency grant to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to help save endangered African penguin chicks in South Africa. SANCCOB used the grant to rescue and care for 209 abandoned and displaced chicks from colonies in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape of South Africa following extreme weather and devasting floods that destroyed habitats and nests. The chicks are being hand reared until they can be safely released back to their native habitats. Thus far, 80 now healthy animals have already been returned to the wild since the end of June with more to follow.
The Seaworld Conservation Fund provides grants around the world to grassroots conservation projects that make a difference in species research, habitat protection, conservation education, and animal rescue and rehabilitation. The African penguin has suffered a massive population decline and the species was listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red Data List in 2010. This is the first emergency grant made by the Fund in 2023.
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