Cape Town - As World Ranger Day is being celebrated, a local ranger who takes care of the endangered African penguins and sea birds on Robben Island shares her story on her daily expedition to help preserve the species.
Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) ranger, Yandisa Cwecwe, spends day and night carefully observing and caring for the penguins whose population is decreasing annually by 7.9%.
World Ranger Day is observed on July 31, and pays homage to the men and women who work tirelessly to preserve our wilderness and protect our planet and its natural treasures and animals from threats.
SANCCOD said it’s a race against time with the African penguin facing extinction by the year 2035.
Cwecwe is a SANCCOB Penguin and Sea bird Ranger based on Robben Island Museum. She holds a MSc Zoology (Marine Biology) from the Walter Sisulu University.
It was back at her hometown of Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, 45 km from the sea where the seed was planted for the love for zoology and animal life.
Cwecwe said during her life sciences classes at school she was first exposed to the environment and delved into the world of Zoology as her chosen career field and studies.
It was also during this time that she was able to take an unforgettable field trip to a marine protected area along the Eastern Cape Wild Coast which drove her interest further.
Following her graduation, she worked under the National Research Foundation as a research assistant intern for two years in a Marine Conservation Genomics laboratory at Stellenbosch University before taking up a post at SANCCOB in 2021.
“My passion and love for African penguins really began here at SANCCOB. I first worked in their research department for two years and when a ranger position became available, I immediately applied,” she explained.
“I wanted to be on the ground, close to the penguins and other sea birds and to see where they were being rescued.
“I also wanted to contribute towards the efforts of conserving marine life, especially the endangered African penguin.”
What makes Cwecwe unique is that she is the only SANCCOB Penguin and Sea bird Ranger stationed on Robben Island but does not work alone.
She collaborates daily with other research teams who are also based on the island.
Their goals collectively are to preserve the terrestrial and marine environment and save wildlife.
An average day for Cwecwe includes morning field patrols to check for injured, sick or oiled birds.
During its breeding season, she has to check the nests for eggs or chicks and monitor them closely to ensure the chicks are not underweight or that they are not abandoned.
“We are always monitoring the chicks on the island especially for being underweight,” she explained.
She detailed on how nourishment was important for the penguins.
“Penguin food sources have diminished so much due to the overfishing of sardines and anchovies that penguin parents must travel far distances to find food, often leaving their chicks alone for very long periods of time, sometimes not making it back at all.
“This makes the chicks and eggs vulnerable to predators, bad weather and starvation.”
She added that with the penguin numbers already decreasing, their main responsibility was to make sure that the species survived.
“This means rescuing them,” she added.
“We then send them by boat to SANCCOB’s Chick Rearing Unit (CRU) in Table View where they are incubated, the eggs are hatched, and the chicks are hand-reared for release back into the wild.
“This is done with the aim of bolstering the declining wild population.”
In March, BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB took legal action against the Office of the Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to implement biologically meaningful no-catch zones around six breeding sites so that the penguins do not have to compete with commercial purse-seine fishing vessels who are fishing in their hunting grounds.
The court date has been set for October 22-24, 2024.
SANCCOB said they actively support its conservation partners, namely CapeNature, City of Cape Town, SANParks and Robben Island Museum and they currently employ eleven rangers located at five important African penguin breeding colonies within South Africa.
They added that in the Eastern Cape, rangers monitor seabirds on Bird Island in Algoa Bay, and in the Western Cape, rangers monitor Dassen Island, Robben Island, Stony Point and Simon’s Town colonies.
They explained that on average, 500 to 600 African penguin chicks and 300 to 400 African penguin eggs are brought to SANCCOB each year by rangers across all the penguin colonies with numbers increasing by 256% in the last seven years.
Cwecwe explained becoming a ranger took special qualities which included passion and dedication and not being afraid of hard work and getting your hands dirty.
“A ranger needs to have basic computer skills, be able to collect data and enter it, as well as formulate well-written monthly reports,” she stated.
“The best part of my job is that I get to contribute to preserving our beautiful and precious planet and help to save the African penguin and all the sea birds that populate our coastline,” she said.
“Becoming a ranger has been very rewarding for me and I encourage anyone who wants to become a ranger to work hard at school, follow their passion and love for animals, be open to working closely with others and apply to SANCCOB today.”
To find out more about SANCCOB, or to make a donation or apply to volunteer please visit www.sanccob.co.za or follow SANCCOB on Facebook and Instagram or Twitter.
According to SANCCOB, It’s estimated there are more than 100 000 reserves, parks and protected areas around the world.