By Keri McMorran
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.