49 Little Blue Penguins oiled in the spill from the grounded cargo ship Rena were released today in New Zealand, after rescue and rehabilitation by emergency response teams, including International Bird Rescue, organized through Massey University’s New Zealand Wildlife Health Centre. In preparation for the release we set up three aviaries with a salt water … Read more
Little Blue Penguin cared for during the Rena Spill in New Zealand, 2011. Photo: Curt Clumpner Update, 3/6/14: Every so often, the “sweaters on oiled penguins” story resurfaces in the media. “Does this work?” invariably we’re asked about using knit sweaters to keep birds warm and to prevent the preening of oiled feathers. Here’s our … Read more
Our latest update on the Rena Spill is brought to you by International Bird Rescue’s Preparedness Director, Curt Clumpner, who is on site in New Zealand working with Massey University in the role of Wildlife Center Deputy. For those of you who don’t pay much attention to rugby “we” won the Rugby World Cup Sunday … Read more
Hello everyone, There has been a catastrophic oil spill on a remote island in the mid-South Atlantic Ocean that is threatening an entire colony of endangered Northern Rockhopper Penguins. The MS Oliva ran aground on Nightingale Island, one of three islands of the Tristan da Cunha group, on March 16, 2011. All 22 crew were … Read more
Scientists in Chile are trying to unravel the mystery of dead birds including penguins and baby flamingos and a massive die off of sardines. In the last few months, thousands of dead Humboldt and Magellanic penguins washed ashore in late March. Along with them tons of dead sardines showed up as well. The animals littered … Read more
Jay Holcomb of IBRRC will share his stories and experiences in a lecture this month that spotlights how humans are affecting two beloved species of birds: Pelicans and Penguins. The talk will be held on Thursday, April 16 at 7:30 PM in Sonoma and is called “Penguins, Pelicans, and People.” The suggested donation for the … Read more
Nice piece in the New York Times Science Section this week with Dr. Dee Boersma, who has been studying Magellanic Penguins in Argentina since 1982. She brings up a story that I hadn’t heard: A Japanese company went straight to the Argentine government in the 1980s and asked permission to collect penguins for the production … Read more
If you never witnessed the remarkable and heartwarming release of rehabilitated penguins, check out this video from CNN: Embedded video from CNN VideoThe Magellanic Penguins were flown on a Brazilian military C-130 Hercules transport plane. In all, 373 young penguins were rescued, rehabilitated and released last weekend after their search for food left them stranded, … Read more
Thanks to the combined efforts of NGOs and the Brazilian government, 372 rehabilitated juvenile Magellanic penguins this week were airlifted and the released back to the wild in southern Brazil. This was a history making release: It’s the largest group of these penguins to ever be released in this country at one time. An IFAW … Read more
This week more than 300 juvenile Magellanic Penguins, stranded because of inadequate food stocks, will be loaded onto a military plane and airlifted to Southern Brazil for their release back to the wild. You can watch a video (above) of one of the project leaders, Valeria Ruoppolo, explain the process of selecting penguins that are … Read more