SANCCOB Celebrates Its 50-Year Anniversary The Seabird Sanctuary Gets a Much-Needed Renovation

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WORDS Carter Havey

It is a good time to be a patient at SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Local Birds) hospital, located in Table View. Injured and sick seabirds can now seek refuge and rehabilitation in the newly renovated facility. Along with the celebration of their 50th anniversary, SANCCOB also unveiled the new additions to its seabird hospital on 14 November.

Dr David Roberts, a clinical veterinarian at SANCCOB, examines an injured seabird in the new facility. Every year, the organisation treats about 2,500 sick or injured seabirds. Photo: courtesy of SANCCOB

SANCCOB is an NPO that started in the wake of the Esso Essen oil spill in 1968 by a lady named Althea Louise Burman Westphal, who cared for 60 penguins in her home. SANCCOB has since graduated from the garage of Althea’s home to a state-of-the-art rehabilitation centre that just received R17 million in renovations.

A large contributor of the R17 million raised for renovations was the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, accounting for R11million. The remainder was funded by international volunteers and community members. The Donate-A-Brick campaign also provided publicity and appeal that helped to raise money as well.

The renovations will go a long way to benefit the seabird of Southern Africa. ‘The primary objective of the hospital was to improve the services provided and have increased capacity to receive and rehabilitate even more seabirds than the current 2,500 average admitted each year,’ said a SANCCOB spokesperson.

The new renovations include a bigger admission room to receive a high number of rescued birds and increased workflow plus a dedicated X-ray room so that admissions and surgical procedures can happen simultaneously. The SANCCOB spokesperson indicated that ‘previously staff had to vacate the room when an X-ray needed to be done.’

‘The primary objective of the hospital was to improve the services provided and have increased capacity to receive and rehabilitate even more seabirds than the current 2,500 average admitted each year,’ said a SANCCOB spokesperson.

Furthermore, there are two Intensive Care Units, a three-part wash, rinse, and dry area for the seabirds, a walk-in freezer, and new pens with three new pools. For visitors, they have built a viewing deck to offer a bird’s eye view of the penguins in their pens.

Depending on the nature of their injury, seabirds can spend between 4–16 weeks at SANCCOB rehabilitation centre before being released back into the wild. Photo: Shane@sondercaptures

The most advanced addition to the hospital is a modern water purification system. The system utilises reverse osmosis to limit the amount of water usage amid Cape Town’s drought dilemma. The purification system cost R1million and was graciously funded by the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust.

The renovations to SANCCOB’s facility were well overdue as the African penguin population has continued to decrease.

‘Today there are only between 50–60 thousand penguins left. Back in the 1990s there were about 5 million. If we don’t do something to stop the decline, the African penguin has a good chance of going extinct,’ SANCCOB’s CEO Dr Stephen van der Spuy said at the 50th-anniversary celebration.

Despite the decreasing population, hope remains for the African penguin because of the internationally recognised efforts of SANCCOB. Dr van der Spuy concluded, ‘At SANCCOB, we have a dedicated family of hardworking people working to protect the seabirds. SANCCOB creeps into your heart.’

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