African penguins at the East London Aquarium will be the first colony in the world to be DNA tested and micro-chipped in a national conservation and research initiative to protect the critically endangered species.
Penguin samples will also be bio-banked, meaning that the genetics of the aquarium’s penguin population will forever be preserved in a national facility.
Starting from this morning, the aquarium’s 100 penguins will be micro-chipped so they can be uniquely identifiable.
“This means they can be monitored when included in a very large programme where all African penguins in captivity will eventually be part of the biodiversity management plan,” said Buffalo City Metro chief of marine services, Siani Tinley.
Tinley said the National Research Foundation, National Zoological Gardens and Pan African Association of Zoos and Aquaria (Paaza), put the aquarium on the city’s Esplanade forward to be the inaugural population for the conservation programme, which is called Paaza Ark.
She said the programme would connect aquariums and zoos to global conservation initiatives and that DNA testing the colony would contribute to a better diversity of the captive gene pool in South Africa.
The East London Aquarium will link to the Penguin Promises campaign, a world conservation project through the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria in which visitors will be asked to make “promises” that will help protect the endangered species such as not using plastic bags, straws or bottled water and participating in coastal clean-ups. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Special focus on African penguins
Penguin samples will also be bio-banked, meaning that the genetics of the aquarium’s penguin population will forever be preserved in a national facility.
Starting from this morning, the aquarium’s 100 penguins will be micro-chipped so they can be uniquely identifiable.
“This means they can be monitored when included in a very large programme where all African penguins in captivity will eventually be part of the biodiversity management plan,” said Buffalo City Metro chief of marine services, Siani Tinley.
Tinley said the National Research Foundation, National Zoological Gardens and Pan African Association of Zoos and Aquaria (Paaza), put the aquarium on the city’s Esplanade forward to be the inaugural population for the conservation programme, which is called Paaza Ark.
She said the programme would connect aquariums and zoos to global conservation initiatives and that DNA testing the colony would contribute to a better diversity of the captive gene pool in South Africa.
The East London Aquarium will link to the Penguin Promises campaign, a world conservation project through the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria in which visitors will be asked to make “promises” that will help protect the endangered species such as not using plastic bags, straws or bottled water and participating in coastal clean-ups. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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