Being equipped and ready to respond to an emergency situation concerning marine wildlife is not just about being prepared for an oil spill. An emergency rescue requiring our expertise in seabird rehabilitation can result from any disaster that strikes at a moment’s notice. With you as our partners, we have always been ready to step up and step in.
Fortunately, there were no oil spill events in 2018 yet we still admitted 86 Kelp gulls oiled by fish oil. We have also recently shared updates about the admission of hundreds of Lesser flamingo chicks rescued from Kamfers Dam in the Northern Cape. Both these incidents required our intervention to save and conserve wildlife and you can continue to help with our preparedness if you donate online today.
Your support during those months ensured that we maintained our excellent standard of rehabilitation. Releasing the birds back to the wild where they belong were proud moments, after months of round the clock care by staff and volunteers from all over the world. Together, we saved lives! As a non-profit organisation, entirely reliant on donations to carry out our work, we hope that we can still count on your commitment to our cause. With resources utilised for recent disasters, we now need to replenish our inventory to have the necessary items on hand for future emergency response.
A donation toward SANCCOB’s preparedness will go towards the purchase of items such as protective gloves and clothing, capture nets, wash tubs, portable pools, infra-red heat lamps and portable heaters, eye ointment, electrolyte solution, syringes, fish and vitamin supplements.
You will enable our team of staff and volunteers to act as quickly as possible when disaster strikes.
Having emergency preparedness supplies enable us to respond immediately if a disaster strikes along the South African coast. From large-scale catastrophes to local emergencies, our network of specialised staff and trained volunteers can be mobilised in a short space of time to anywhere in southern Africa. Being equipped with emergency kits that are ready for deployment is crucial and we are fortunate to have equipment stored at various places in key locations. Remember the record-breaking rescue operation to save thousands of African penguins in 2000 after an oil spill from the bulk carrier Treasure? It was the world’s largest volunteer animal rescue, saving close to 40,000 penguins which had been oiled or in need of relocation to avoid being oiling. We were ready and able to undertake this because of supporters like you.
Please donate online today because urgent seabird medical attention cannot wait!
With fewer than 20,700 breeding pairs of African penguins left in the wild, and extremely low numbers of Cape cormorants, Bank cormorants and Cape gannets, let’s make the choice to be ready to save them – the survival of Southern Africa’s seabirds is depending on it.
Whether you are locally based or across borders, we have volunteer programmes to suit your availability and offer an opportunity to make an impact as part of our team.
Visit our Volunteer Page for more information.