You won't see their names or institutions mentioned in the article, but zoo and aquarium professionals are participating in the clean-up effort to save over 90 African penguins affected by the latest oil spill.
African penguins were - just a few decades ago - one of the more common penguin species. That, combined with their overall hardiness (being from a temperate zone themselves, they can better adjust to North American climatic conditions than Antarctic penguins can), resulted in their becoming very common in American zoos. Now, they are increasingly threatened in the wild, both by loss of their natural food sources and by oil spills - they were recently upgraded to "Endangered" by the IUCN. Zoos and aquariums may represent one of their best hopes for long-term survival.
Best of luck to everyone involved in the rehabilitation efforts of these rescued birds!
Some of the penguins being rehabilitated by Sanccob in Cape St Francis. (Sanccob and SANParks)
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