A juvenile African penguin is making good progress. It’s being nursed back to health at Durban’s uShaka Sea World, after sustaining severe injuries in a suspected shark attack.

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“Charlie”, as he was named by the team, was in a very poor state when members of the public found him on Warner Beach in the south of Durban.

Sea World Lead animal care specialist Kelly de Klerk says, “His strength has just increased and increased. He came in at 1.6 kilograms. He’s now 3 kilograms. Nothing wrong with his appetite. Eating up to 10 sardines a day. He gets fed 3 times a day. He’s now swimming nicely as you saw earlier. And, ja, still lots of sun time. That wing is being monitored very closely. You also see the right wing was damaged by the shark bite too. He keeps it very closely tucked. We’re also monitoring that and the use of it.”

De Klerk says oil pollution, climate change and dwindling fish stocks are endangering the survival of the African penguins.

“The latest census, which is frightening, there’s only 8-thousand pairs left of the African penguin. Which is so sad. So, so sad. There are birds that are endemic to our coastline and we really need to do something to make sure that these birds are out and about in the wild for generations to come. It’s vitally important.”

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