NSRI
Scores of Cape Cormorant chicks have been rescued from Robben Island and are currently being admitted to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB's) Cape Town facility in Table View.
SANCCOB says a robust rescue effort with Robben Island Museum, Two Oceans Aquarium and the NSRI was executed on Tuesday to retrieve the abandoned chicks and transport them to the Table View facility for further care.
The Foundation says each chick was assessed and hydrated on admission and that its team of staff, interns and volunteers are giving 110% to their care and accommodation.
The NSRI says its Table Bay duty crew was activated at around 11 am on Tuesday at the request of SANCCOB to assist in an ongoing rescue operation of Cape Cormorant chicks at Robben Island.
It appears that a large number of Cape Cormorant chicks may have been abandoned on the island and left to fend for themselves.
Reasons for the parents absence is being investigated.
According to SANCCOB, their rangers on the Island had been monitoring the situation and with the chicks parents having not returned, for unknown reasons, the decision was taken to intervene.
Additional SANCCOB rangers and Two Oceans Aquarium staff were dispatched to join their colleagues and Robben Island Museum staff on the Island and they gathered chicks into boxes to be brought to SANCCOB for care and protection.
A total of 128 chicks, loaded into 16 boxes, were loaded onto the NSRI's sea rescue craft and brought to its Table Bay sea rescue station from where they were transported to SANCCOB in Table View for further care.
The situation on Robben Island continues to be monitored and if the remaining chicks parents don't return more chicks may need to be taken into the care of SANCCOB.
