Helping to hand rear African penguin chicks – meet Sibongile George

Helping to hand rear African penguin chicks – meet Sibongile George

Sibongile started working at SANCCOB as a cleaner. But it wasn’t long before her job became so much more. Although she’d never worked with birds before, she became passionate about saving abandoned Penguin chicks and sick and injured birds brought in for recovery.

Now fully trained, she works as a Rehabilitation Assistant, preparing fish, nebulising those with chest problems and helping to hand rear penguin chicks from eggs in the Chick Rearing Unit.

Her most important responsibility is to create a hygienic environment for the chicks and eggs. She has been on a special training course to learn how to clean the incubators, and trains new interns on hygiene practices within the unit.

“I’ve learnt that it doesn’t matter where you come from,” she says. “We all have a responsibility to take good care of our wildlife.”