VISIT OUR SEABIRD REHABILITATION CENTRES
ANCCOB’s Table View and Port Elizabeth centres offer informative tours that are fun and educational for all ages and interests. Whether you wish to learn, watch a penguin waddle along, hear a seabird squawk, entertain visiting loved ones or are interested in a career in conservation, there is something for everyone to experience at our facilities.
Important Notice: Tours are temporarily paused at our Cape Town centre. We are focusing our resources on the veterinary care and rehabilitation of the hundreds of Cape cormorant chicks admitted to our Table View facility.
Daily centre tours have the following restrictions to ensure safety during Covid-19:
- Only 4 tour groups per day from 10am to 2pm on week days and 3 tours on weekend days at 10am, 12pm and 2pm
- No more than 6 people per family group
- Booking is essential and walk-ins for tours are only permitted if tour slots are unbooked
- Masks are compulsory: headgear cannot replace masks and no filter masks allowed
- Covid-19 protocols will be adhered to with regard to temperature checks, completion of Covid-19 questionnaire and regular hand sanitising
- Our on-site shop is open from 8am to 4pm on week days and at special request beforehand over weekends. You can also visit our online shop here
- Same costs at R60 for adults, R50 for kids under 12 and R40 for senior citizens
Booking to be done with Alex via Alex@sanccob.co.za or call +27 21 557 6155. Our tours are child friendly and an informative experience for all ages.
SANCCOB TABLE VIEW
NB! Usual tour details below will only be reinstated when lockdown restrictions in South Africa have completely eased.
- Tours are every hour on the hour starting at 09h00 and last commencing at 15h00.
- Bookings in Table View, Cape Town, are preferred to avoid disappointment. Walk-ins are nonetheless welcome but please be patient if you need to wait for a new tour group.
Tour costs in Cape Town
- Adults at R60; Kids 12 years and under at R50; Senior Citizens at R40
Tour options
- A guided tour behind the scenes throughout the facility and varies from 45 minutes to one hour
- Our kids tour will not venture into every specialised area and varies from 30-45 minutes, offering activities such as colouring in, touching a taxidermy, dressing up in a penguin suit and learning the penguin waddle, as well as looking at slides and preserved organs (optional).
- We offer a personalised and in-depth tour with an exclusive meet and greet opportunity with specialised staff behind the scenes of our rehabilitation facility. This tour includes an encounter with an ambassador penguin for a maximum group of three people from 16 years of age. Duration is approximately 2.5 hours and priced at R500 per person.
*Please note that booking is essential
SANCCOB PORT ELIZABETH
Tour details
- Based at the Cape Recife Nature Reserve, our Port Elizabeth centre’s tours are every hour on the hour starting at 09h00 and last tour commencing at 15h00.
- Home Pen feeds take place between 09h00 and 10h00 and between 14h00 and 16h00 daily. Please call 041 583 1830 for more information and to book your tour group.
Tour costs in Port Elizabeth
- Adults at R45; Senior Citizens and Kids 12 years and under at R30
SCHOOLS
Environmental education experiences are designed to highlight our conservation message. Our educators work with you to develop the best learning experience for your class, either at SANCCOB, or at your school. We offer many interesting and engaging lessons, including tours of the facility, encounters with our ambassador birds, bird watching and beach clean-ups. A full break down of currently available SANCCOB lessons is available on request.
To book your SANCCOB experience, please download the relevant application form and send the completed document to Alex@sanccob.co.za or education1@sanccob.co.za.
Download form here to visit SANCCOB or Download form here to invite us to visit you.
Alternatively, call us on +27 21 557 6155.
EDUCATIONAL TALKS AND LECTURES
We’ll bring our informative and entertaining talks to your school, library, church, retirement village or business premises, or visit our centre for an on-site group tour and presentation. Contact our Education Team on +27 21 557 6155 or email Alex@sanccob.co.za or education1@sanccob.co.za. If you have specific aspects or outcomes in mind then be sure to let us know.
SKYPE LESSONS
SANCCOB’s Education Department offers 30-minute Skype sessions to learners across the globe, and includes a penguin adoption for the group. Each session entails an interactive lesson on African Penguins, seabirds, and marine conservation, as well as a virtual encounter with an African Penguin in SANCCOB’s care.
Enquire with Alex at alex@sanccob.co.za to book or call +27 21 557 6155.
Health assessments, blood parasites and diseases
- A novel candidate species of Anaplasma that infects avian erythrocytes (Vanstreels
RET, Yablsey MJ, Parsons NJ, Swanepoel L, Pistorius PA (2018). Parasites and
Vectors - Spread of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in sub-Saharan Africa:
epidemiological and ecological observations. Focus On. FAO No 12 (Khomenko S,
Abolnik C, Roberts L, Waller L, Shaw K, Monne I, Taylor J, Dhingra M, Pittiglio C,
Mugyeom M, Roche X, Frederick K, Kamata A, Okuthe S, Kone P, Wiersma L, von Dobschuetz S, Soumare B, Makonnen Y, Morzaria S, Lubroth J (2018) 2016-2018 - Molecular characterization of Babesia peircei and Babesia ugwidiensis provides insight into the ecolution and host specific of avian piroplasmids (Yabsley, MJ, Vanstreels, RET, Shock, BC, Purdee, M, Horne, EC, Peirce, MA & Parsons, NJ. 2017)
- Conservation implications of avian malaria exposure for African penguins during rehabilitation (Botes, A, Thiart, H, Parsons, NJ & Bellstedt, DU. 2017)
- Novel vagrant records and occurrence of vector-borne pathogens in king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) in South Africa (Parsons, NJ, Gous, TA, Cranfield, MR, Cheng, LI, Schultz, A, Horne, E, Last, RP, Lampen, F, Ludynia, K, Bousfield, B, Strauss, V, Peirce, MA & Vanstreels, RET. 2017)
- Seabird disease surveillance guidelines (Nola Parsons)
- Southern African Seabird Colony Disease Risk Assessment (Nola Parsons)
- Occurrence of blood parasites in seabirds admitted for rehabilitation in the Western Cape, South Africa, 2001–2013 (Parsons, NJ, Voogt, NM, Schaefer, AM, Peirce, MA & Vanstreels, RET. 2017)
- Health evaluation of African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) in southern Africa (Parsons, NJ, Gous, TA, Schaefer, AM & Vanstreels, RET. 2016)
- Herpesvirus-like respiratory infection in African penguins Spheniscus demersus admitted to a rehabilitation centre (Parsons, NJ, Gous, TA, van Wilpe, E, Strauss, V & Vanstreels, RET. 2015)
- Establishment of baseline haematology and biochemistry parameters in wild adult African penguins (Parsons, NJ, Schaefer, AM, van der Spuy, SD & Gous, TA. 2015)
- Lead and Cadmium in the Blood of Nine Species of Seabirds, Marion Island, South Africa (Summers, CF, Bowerman, WW, Parsons, NJ, Chao, WY & Bridges, WC Jr. 2014)
- Babesia ugwidiensis, a new species of avian piroplasm from Phalacrocoracidae in South Africa. Parasite 19, 375–379 (Peirce, MA & Parsons, NJ. 2012)
- Novel relapsing fever Borrelia detected in African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) admitted to two rehabilitation centers in South Africa (Yabsley, MJ, Parsons, NJ, Horne, EC, Shock, BC & Purdee, M. 2012)
- New species of haematozoa in Phalacrocoracidae and Stercorariidae in South Africa (Parsons, NJ, Peirce, MA & Strauss, V. 2010)
- Plasmodium juxtanucleare causing mortality in black-footed penguins (Spheniscus demersus) at a rehabilitation center (Grim, KC, Van der Merwe, E, Sullivan, M, Parsons, NJ, McCutchan, TF & Cranfield, MR. 2003)
Seabird Rehabilitation
- First report of a hatched, hand-reared, and released African oystercatcher. Zoo Biology.
(Klusener R, Hurtado R, Stander N, Parsons NJ (2018) - Hand-rearing, release and survival of African penguin chicks abandoned before independence by moulting parents (Sherley, RB, Waller, LJ, Strauss, V, Geldenhuys, D, Underhill, LG & Parsons, NJ. 2014)
- Female-biased mortality of African penguins admitted to a rehabilitation facility (Pichegru, L & Parsons, NJ. 2014)
- Feather-loss Disorder in African and Magellanic Penguins (Kane, OJ, Smith, JR, Boersma, PD, Parsons, NJ, Strauss, V, Garcia-Borboroglu, P & Villanueva, C. 2010)
- The rehabilitation of Swift Terns Sterna bergii incapacitated by marine foam on Robben Island, South Africa (Parsons, NJ, Tjørve, KMC, Underhill, LG & Strauss, V. 2006)
- The conservation status and impact of oiling on the African Penguin In: Nel, DC & Whittington, PA (eds). Rehabilitation of oiled African Penguins: a conservation success story. BirdLife South Africa and the Avian demography Unit, Cape Town, South Africa. pp. 1–7 (Nel, DC, Crawford, RJM & Parsons, NJ. 2003)
African penguins in the wild
- A three-legged African penguin Spheniscus demersus. Marine Ornithology 46: 23-26 (Vanstreels RET, Parsons NJ, Pistorius PA. 2018)
- Nasal mites (Mesostigmata: Rhinonyssidae) in African penguins (Spheniscus demersus).
Parasitology. (Vanstreels RET, Proctor H, Snyman A, Hurtado R, Ludynia K, Parsons NJ, Pistorius PA. 2018) - Prognostic indicators of rehabilitation outcomes for adult African penguins (Parsons, N.J., Vanstreels, R.E.T., Schaefer, A.M. 2018)
- Tangled and drowned: A global review of penguin bycatch in fisheries. Endangered
Species Research 34:373-396 (Crawford R, Ellenberg U, Frere E, Hagen C, Baird K, Brewin P, Crofts S, Glass J, Mattern T, Pompert J, Ross K, Kemper J, Ludynia K, Sherley RB, Steinfurth A, Suazo C, Yorio P, Tamini L, Mangel J, Bugoni L, Jimenez-Uzcategui G, Simeone A, Luna-Jorquera G, Gandini P, Woehler E, Pütz K, Dann P, Chiaradia A, Small C. 2017) - Metapopulation tracking juvenile penguins reveals an ecosystem-wide ecological trap (Sherley, RB, Ludynia, K, Dyer, B, Makhado, A, Lamont, T, Makhado, AB, Roux, JP, Scales, KL, Underhill, LG & Votier, SC. 2017)
- Sex determination of African penguins Spheniscus demersus using bill measurements: method comparisons and implications for use (Robinson, KJ, Farah, D, Collins, S & Parsons, NJ. 2016)
- Penguins’ perilous conservation status calls for complementary approach based on sound ecological principles: reply to Butterworth et al. (2015) (Weller, F, Sherley, RB, Shannon, LJ, Jarre, A, Stewart, T, Scott, L, Cecchini, LA, Crawford, RJM, Geldenhuys, D, Ludynia, K & Waller, LJ. 2016)
- System dynamics modelling of the Endangered African penguin populations on Robben and Dyer islands, South Africa (Weller, F, Sherley, RB, Waller, LJ, Ludynia, K, Geldenhuys, D, Shannon, LJ & Jarre, A. 2016)
- Processes influencing the population dynamics and conservation of African penguins at Dyer Island, South Africa (Ludynia, K, Waller, L, Sherley, R, Abadi, F, Galada, Y, Geldenhuys, D, Crawford, RJM, Shannon, LJ & Jarre A. 2014)
- Age-specific survival and movement among major African penguin colonies (Sherley, RB, Abadi, F, Ludynia, K, Barham, BJ, Clark, AE & Altwegg, R. 2014)
- The initial journey of an endangered penguin: implications for seabird conservation (Sherley, R, Ludynia, K, Lamont, T, Roux, J-P, Crawford, RJM & Underhill LG. 2013)
- The Namibian Islands’ Marine Protected Area: using seabird tracking data to define boundaries and assess their adequacy (Ludynia, K, Kemper, J & Roux, J-P. 2012)
- Surviving off junk: Low-energy prey dominates the diet of African penguins Spheniscus demersus at Mercury Island, Namibia, between 1996 and 2009 (Ludynia, K, Roux, J-P, Jones, R, Kemper, J & Underhill, LG. 2010)
Other seabirds (and coastal birds) in southern Africa
- Storms and heat limit the nest success of Bank Cormorants: implications of future climate change for a surface-nesting seabird in southern Africa (Sherley, R, Ludynia, K, Underhill, LG, Jones, R & Kemper, J. 2012)
- Geographic variation in the trophic ecology of an avian rocky shore predator, the African Black Oystercatcher along the southern African coastline (Kohler, SA, Connan, M, Hill, JM, Mablouké, C, Bonnevie, B, Ludynia, K, Kemper, J, Huisamen, J, Underhill, LG, Cherel, Y, McQuaid, CD & Jaquemet, S. 2011)
- Foraging behaviour of bank cormorants in Namibia: implications for conservation (Ludynia, K, Jones, R, Kemper, J, Garthe, S & Underhill, LG. 2010)
- Monitoring seabirds in the BCLME – Data collection manual. In: SP Kirkman (ed.) Final Report of the BCLME (Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem) Project on Top Predators as Biological Indicators of Ecosystem Change in the BCLME (Kemper, J, Braby, J, Dyer, B, James, J, Jones, R, Ludynia, K, Mullers, R, Roux, J.-P, Underhill, L & Wolfaardt, A. 2007)
