Fabulous Five find freedom

Penguin Release June 2026 Plettenberg Bay

15 June 2026 we got the call we had been waiting for! We got the go ahead that 20 June 2026 would be perfect for our penguin release…. 5 days notice from Ocean Sailing Charters who always keep an eye on the weather for us for the best date, let us know it was going to be a good day for the release with great weather for another 10 days after that.

 

So it was all hands on deck!! Natures Valley Trust, BirdLife Plett, Plett Stranding Network, SANParks, Cape Nature and Tenikwa knew we had to let the Plettenberg Bay community know that there was a penguin release on just a few days away. Penguin posts with names and faces of the Fabulous Five were shared all over social media and the excitement started to build.

NVT arriving early at the beach to put the crowd ropes up, Birdlife Plett setting up their speaker system and fundraising members getting in place, Robberg Vets & SANParks putting the Penguin enclosure up ready, only then waiting for the VIP’s (very important PENGUINS) to arrive.

Penguins being released at Plettenberg Bay

As we pulled up to the beach we were blown away by the support of our wonderful town. Even though the weather was chilly it didn’t stop everyone coming to see  Penny, Lucky, Thai, Easter and Minke off.

Penguins being released at Plettenberg Bay

And the penguins didn’t disappoint either…. As soon as the little pen gate was opened, their natural instinct kicked in and off they went straight into the ocean. There were tears of joys, rounds of applause and great excitement for yet another successful release.

And with African penguins now being critically endangered, we all have to do whatever we can to make sure that African Penguin releases are something that your great great grandchildren get to attend

 

 

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Love Blooms where Tragedy struck twice

This is the heart-ache story of two penguins we fondly know as Dublin and Flipper, whose fate is intertwined.

Dublin and Flipper have found love at Tenikwa in rehabilitation

On 8 January 2024,  SanParks brought a young penguin to Tenikwa for rehabilitation. She was classified as a “blue” which is the general name for a juvenile penguin before their first moult into the traditional black and white colours. She was so weak and clearly had a broken flipper and weighed just 1.4kg. Hence we called her “Flipper”.

She was taken to Robberg Vets who x-rayed, assessed and said it would be a long road to recovery, but hopefully the flipper would heal. Unfortunately it meant that she couldn’t swim until it did. Every 3 days we changed her vet wrap bandage that kept her flipper in place, but before doing this we would rest her tummy and chest on our arm and lower her into a small bath of water so she could have the feeling of swimming, whilst it also helped with keeping her feathers waterproof. Finally on 8 March 2024 after a lot of follow up vet visits and x-rays, Flipper was bandage free and introduced to the other penguins in the large rehab pool at Tenikwa in the rehabilitation facilities. She steadily gained weight, and was doing really well.

On 1 September 2024 we admitted another penguin via SanParks. From the injuries sustained, this penguin looked as though he had been attacked by a predator. The wounds were not consistent with a seal attack, and looked more like a dog bite. It is very important that members of the public have control over their dogs and on lead near wildlife and on beaches. His tail had puncture wounds and another puncture on his abdomen. He was very dehydrated and one of the most aggressive penguins we have ever had to handle.  It was good that he was strong enough to fight, but sad that he had been so traumatised that it made helping him more difficult as it stressed him so much each time we had to work with him. We called him “Dublin”. After his veterinary assessment at Robberg Veterinary Clinic, he was kept in our rehab hospital’s high care area for a while before he could join the Tenikwa Penguins. All we had to do now was to wait for him to heal and moult so that his feathers would grow back. At that time, we were planning a release soon, but it wasn’t likely that he would be ready in time. It was disappointing as the rest of the penguins in rehab were cleared for released.

As October arrived,  we were ready to release the Penguins. Dublin had still not moulted and on a check up at the vet it was determined his preen gland had been injured when he was attacked. Penguins use the oil secreted by their preen gland located at the base of their tail, which they rub their beak over and then spread it all over their feathers. This keeps them waterproof, dry and warm in the cold ocean. So if his preen gland still didn’t work after moulting then it would be very unlikely that he could ever be released.

Dublin and Flipper will always be seen together as the other penguins splish-splash their way back to the wild where they belong

Some 6 days in the lead up to the release, we noticed Flipper was starting to eat a lot more fish. She started piling on the pounds and it was clear she was getting herself ready to go into natural moult. This meant she couldn’t be released with the others, but it also meant that Flipper could keep Dublin company at Tenikwa, along with another recent admission called Elias that SanParks also brought to us until the remaining penguins could be evaluated for release..

In due course, we noticed once more that penguin love was blossoming at Tenikwa!  Dublin and Flipper became inseparable. Unfortunately after Dublin completed his moult, our vet determined that his preen gland was still not functioning as it should. This was heartbreaking for us, as we knew he was now bonded with Flipper and there was a high possibility that he couldn’t be released. He just wouldn’t survive without his waterproofing, so essential in our cold waters. However the Tenikwa Team and the Veterinary Staff from Robberg Vet Clinic just don’t give up that easily when working with endangered species. So back to the vets Dublin went a few more times to have various treatments done to the preening gland, and to our absolute delight it seems the last treatment has worked!  Success at last – there is oil coming from his preen gland and it appears to be functioning correctly now. While he recovered (which was just 3 days) he could only swim for 2 to 3 minutes per day, so we kept him and Flipper in the pool area in a smaller pen together.

So here we are 1 year after Flipper was admitted and 6 months after Dublin was admitted and we are now preparing to release them both, along with 6 other penguins soon.

None of this would ever be possible without the Plett Bird club that assists us to cover some of the costs of the vast quantities of sardines that the penguins consume during their rehabilitation at Tenikwa; the fabulous veterinary staff, especially Sr Hanlie and Dr Pauline and the rest of Robberg Vet Clinic staff;  the amazingly dedicated SanParks Rangers and our generous sponsors, donors and guests who constantly help us, to save furry and feathered lives and give them a second chance at being free and wild.

Team work makes the dream work. We will update on the release date closer to the time.

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High Care facilities at Tenikwa

When animals are admitted to our rehabilitation centre, they normally spent their first three days of stabilisation in our high care facilities.

Egret in one of the High Care Cages at Tenikwa

This quiet and warm area is equipped with several cages which serve as an important part of the initial recovery process allowing them to de-stress and adjust to the sounds and smells of a captive environment as we stabilise them and deal with whatever circumstances landed them in rehabilitation. It also serves as a night facility where all our weaker patients are secured for the night to ensure their safety, warmth and night rest after spending the day out in more natural rehabilitation enclosures.

Work starts on our new bio-filter system for our marine pool

We are very excited to have started work on our brand new bio-filter system for our penguin pool. Using a triple tank system with multiple levels of filtration, our aim is to maintain the water quality whilst minimising our dependence on chemical treatment of any kind. Having a clear blue pool whilst penguins happily poop in the water, has been one of the problems we have had to deal with, especially in our water-scarce region and in summer when the guana-rich poop quickly results in green algae blooms following hot days.   Whilst the algae is not unhealthy for the penguins (we Humans also eat Spirulina as a health supplement), it is unsightly, and whilst normal swimming pools can be treated quickly by dosing with chlorine and algae-inhibitor, we have to consider the feathers and health of the penguins who swim and drink this water whilst they are in rehab.

Visits by sponsors

The high care cages and rehabilitation enclosures are available for sponsorship, and this assists us in the monthly costs of running the rehabilitation facilities. We were recently visited by two of our High Care cage sponsors, Dominique Gasser from Switzerland, and Becky Dorrell from Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur Park who were thrilled to see animals recovering in their high care cages.

Dominique Gasser rehab cage sponsor at Tenikwa

Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World visiting their sponsored high care rehabilitation cage

If you are looking into becoming one of our kennel sponsors you can contact us for details. Sponsorship of a high care cage or rehabilitation enclosure helps not just one animal, but many of them as our main objective is to get them well and get them back to the wild where they belong. Its a great way of providing meaningful contribution towards wildlife rehabilitation.

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Backman- The penguin who was scared of water

The story of Backman …so far .

Tenikwa is equipped with a rehabilitation centre and currently back to full operation for injured and abandoned wild animals. Tenikwa forms part of a network of rehabilitation centres along the coast who rescue and rehabilitate penguins before returning them to the sea to attempt to help prevent/reduce the risk of penguin extinction.

Backman is currently our smallest but oldest Penguin, who came to us as a blue (young penguin before his first moult).

On 6 June 2022 Robberg Vet Clinic (who works hand in hand with Tenikwa), received an African penguin with a severe injury to his back that was most likely inflicted by a boat propeller slicing his back (Human-wildlife conflict). At first the wound had to be sterilised, debrided and cleaned, and then carefully stitched aligning the feathers,  to ensure the little penguin would be waterproof once the wound had healed.   This would ensure a quicker stay in rehabilitation.

Happy Feet looks on whilst Backman goes into moult

Stitching a wound must be done carefully to ensure future waterproofing

However, it was not to be. The wound tore open and revealed more extensive injury and further surgery was required. A large portion of his back had to be shaved which meant Backman would have to remain in rehabilitation until he moulted and grew new feathers.

And so our journey with Backman started.

An Aqua-phobic penguin???

Surprisingly, the traumatic experience with a boat had left him frightened of water. Backman would simply not go willingly into the water. He was terrified and panicked the minute he was put into water. So with lots of patience from the staff and time he gradually overcame his fear by starting him off in a tray of shallow water, splashing his feet, and slowly introducing him to deeper and deeper water in a trough, until one day, he simply took a dive by himself in the big pool

Backman eventually overcame his fear of water as the memory of the boat collision receded

He was so nervous of everything , including fish!  So this, for a penguin, is a problem! Building trust took time, but eventually he realised we were just wanting to help him.

Tasmyn Gouws, veterinary physiotherapist treats Backman’s wound with laser therapy

We contacted Tasmyn, a vet physiotherapist at Equine Librium and asked for her assistance to heal his terrible wound. This is her part of the story in her own words. ” I started treatment on Backman in July 2022 after he arrived at Tenikwa. For the stitches to be put in, they had to cut some of his feathering. We started laser light therapy to assist the growth of his feathering and help heal the wound. His wound responded well with healing , but to see if his feathers would return he had to go through his first moult. ” ~ Tasmyn Gouws – veterinary physiotherapist.

Backman gets a buddy

In November another penguin was admitted for rehabilitation and we named her Happy Feet. She had fishing line embedded around her face and beak so was unable to eat normal size fish because she could not open her mouth wide enough to swallow the fish.  She hadn’t eaten for weeks, and was starving. Whenever it was feedtime, Happy Feet would come running up for food and would pitter-patter behind us begging for food. We were able to feed small white bait and mullet that a local fisherman kindly caught for her, but my gosh, sometimes she would eat 25 at one sitting!!!  Happy feet and Backman became friends and spent most of their time together.

Happy Feet with a protective flipper over Backman whose healed wound shows clearly where the feathers have been damaged

Backman continued to improve, but his scar was clearly visible which meant he was not insulated against the cold water.  Waterproofing is one of the critical requirements a penguin must have, in order to be considered for release. Meanwhile, Happy Feet’s extensive scarring around her beak subsided and we were able to increase the size of fish we could offer to her, and finally, she moved off white bait and on to small sardines.

Preparations for release

In November 2023 we were getting ready to release some of our other penguins, but it was clear Backman would not be able to maintain his body temperature if released. It was then that we realised Backman and Happy Feet had become a bonded pair! With this in mind, we consulted with our vet as penguins bond for life. Releasing Happy Feet could very well set Backman back in his progress particularly because of the trauma of his past experiences. It was decided that Happy Feet would remain with Backman at Tenikwa in rehabilitation and he was put on a new regime of different vitamins to help ‘kick-start’ the process of moulting.

Backman finally moults

Eventually in December 2023 Backman finally started his moult. We were delighted, but now it was a waiting game to find out if his feathers would fully regrow over the scar meaning he would be waterproof to the extent that he would be fit for release. It was the longest 18 days of our lives!

Finally the wait was over……. when his adult feathers grew, he was fully covered and a handsome black and white proud penguin who was fully insulated appeared before our eyes. After his moult he soon became ravenous and started to fully embrace what it was to be a real African penguin.

Backman has moulted and produced a perfectly waterproofed set of new feathers

What the future holds

He will be released (along with Happy Feet) almost 2 years after he came to Tenikwa. We will be sure to keep you all updated on the date of our release as we will live stream it for those that can’t join us in person. We hope that everyone can get to see little Backman finally return to his life in the wild waddling back to the ocean alongside Happy Feet.

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