{"id":58906,"title":"SANCCOB: The penguin charity that means so much to me","description":"Meet the penguins that made SANCCOB personal to me, discover its conservation work and find out how you can help African penguins.","content":"

\"TheBarbara had a way of bending herself into positions that made her look as though she was doing yoga. Batman was female, blind and had a longstanding female partner called Penelope. Sammy liked to sit on your lap during feeding time. When I think about SANCCOB, these are some of the characters I remember.<\/strong><\/p>

In May 2019, I volunteered at its seabird rehabilitation centre in Port Elizabeth, now called Gqeberha, in South Africa. Feeding, cleaning, laundry and helping care for penguin chicks became part of my daily routine. So did getting to know the birds.<\/p>

That experience is one of the reasons Kind Penguins exists. It\u2019s also why I\u2019ve continued supporting SANCCOB since coming home.<\/p>

What is SANCCOB?<\/h2>

SANCCOB stands for the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds<\/strong>. Founded in 1968, the organisation rescues, rehabilitates and releases seabirds affected by injury, illness, oil pollution and abandonment, with African penguins a particular focus.<\/p>

Its seabird hospitals in Cape Town and Gqeberha provide veterinary treatment and care, helping birds recover sufficiently to return to the wild wherever possible. That can involve feeding, medication, swimming and checks on the condition and waterproofing of their feathers.<\/p>

Behind those descriptions is an enormous amount of daily work. My small part included plenty of cleaning and laundry. Penguins generate quite a lot of both.<\/p>

\"BarbaraImage: Barbara does her morning yoga (or is it a good scratch?), Gqeberha.<\/em><\/p>

The penguins I still remember<\/h2>

Barbara seemed wonderfully curious. Her yoga-like bending remains one of my favourite memories: a particular bird doing a particular thing, which has stayed with me years later. My photo of her even made it on to a South African wildlife calendar (Barbara became the icon of August 2020 on the calendar, helping raise money for the Sustainable Seas Trust in the process).<\/p>

Then there were Batman and Penelope. Batman was blind, and the pair had been together for a long time. They were permanent residents, unable to return to the wild because of their injuries.<\/p>

Their story showed me another side of the centre\u2019s work. Some birds needed care that would prepare them for release; others needed a safe place to live. And the two penguins being in a same-sex pairing was another reminder of the power of love.<\/p>

One chick I helped care for became super special to me. I got to introduce him to the swim tank for his first-ever swim. He took to it like a penguin to, erm, water and I became a proud Penguin Dad, \u2018adopting\u2019 him and naming him Butler (I had a reputation for bringing tea round the centre volunteers and staff!) before his eventual release back into the wild.<\/p>

I can\u2019t claim much credit for the swimming ability. Being there for that first swim, though, was something special.<\/p>

A cardboard box and a journey from Robben Island<\/h2>

The following month, while volunteering on Robben Island, I helped rescue a lone penguin with a seal-bite injury.<\/p>

We packed it into a cardboard box and took it by boat to the mainland for treatment at SANCCOB\u2019s Cape Town centre. Before my volunteering ended, I visited the centre and found the bird recovering nicely.<\/p>

It brought the connection between the island and the rehabilitation centre into sharp focus for me. Here was a bird we had found needing help, now receiving care across the water.<\/p>

I don\u2019t know what happened after that visit. I do know how pleased I was to see him recovering.<\/p>

\"AImage: Taking an injured African penguin from Robben Island to Cape Town for treatment.<\/em><\/p>

Why African penguins need our help<\/h2>

Since my time in South Africa, the position of the African penguin has become even more urgent.<\/p>

In October 2024, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the species as Critically Endangered<\/strong>, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. SANCCOB reported at the time that fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remained. That is a dated estimate, but it gives a sense of how precarious their position has become.<\/p>

A major problem is access to food. Penguins depend on fish such as sardines and anchovies, and commercial fishing can compete with them for those resources.<\/p>

Helping an injured bird recover matters enormously. Its future also depends on what awaits it at sea.<\/p>

That is why SANCCOB\u2019s work reaches beyond its hospitals. In March 2025, SANCCOB and BirdLife South Africa secured a court-backed agreement establishing restrictions on commercial sardine and anchovy fishing around six important African penguin breeding colonies. These measures are intended to improve the birds\u2019 access to food.<\/p>

For me, this matters even if you never expect to see an African penguin in the wild. How we manage the sea affects the wildlife that depends on it. Protecting these birds means taking their need for food and habitat seriously alongside our own use of the ocean.<\/p>

And there is something worth protecting in the birds themselves: their lives, their relationships and the chance for future generations to encounter them.<\/p>

<\/p>

\"AImage: Some of our adopted penguins over the years.<\/em><\/p>

How Kind Penguins has supported SANCCOB<\/h2>

As of October 2026, our support has totalled approximately R8,398 in South African rand<\/strong>, through donations and penguin adoptions.<\/p>

That has included donations towards SANCCOB\u2019s work in Gqeberha, alongside symbolic adoptions supporting permanent residents, birds undergoing rehabilitation and rescued chicks.<\/p>

Over the years, those adoptions have included Peace, Priscilla, Murphy, Pebbles, Butler, Attenborough, Captain Tom, Darren and Rosie, as well as permanent residents Elvis and Beki. Some were adopted on behalf of customers who entered a competition to name the penguins we were supporting in 2021.<\/p>

These adoptions help fund care. SANCCOB explains that adoption contributions are pooled to support its seabirds, rather than being reserved exclusively for the named individual.<\/p>

Kind Penguins<\/u><\/a> remains a small venture. I hope to grow the contribution over time, while being straightforward about what we have given so far.<\/p>

Our commitment is: 10% of profits donated to penguin conservation.<\/strong><\/p>

How you can help African penguins<\/h2>

You don\u2019t need to travel to South Africa to support this work.<\/p>