Caring for Cape Town's cormorants

Abandoned by their parents, these cormorant chicks are now being cared for at the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCOBB) in Cape Town.

The birds were found on rocky outcrops off Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent many years in prison. Around 2,000 cormorants were shipped to this sanctuary on the mainland. Over 800 of the birds were lost to dehydration and weakness, but the remainder are in recovery and gobble down more than a tonne of sardines a week.

SANCOBB relies on around 50 volunteers to hand feed and hydrate the smallest of these orphans, as they are not capable of eating unassisted.

A larger enclosure is reserved for the more mature cormorants as they gain independence and learn to swim. Once their water resistant plumage has fully developed, these larger birds will be ready to say goodbye to their temporary carers, as SANCOBB manager Nicky Stander explains.

Nicky Stander: “We will probably start looking at releasing the bigger birds in the next three weeks hopefully and the smaller birds will obviously be here in the next two to three months."

After consulting with scientists, SANCOBB has identified the most probable cause for the desertion of the chicks – a lack of food. This is a cause for concern.

Nicky Stander: "What we’re scared of is this is going to happen more and more in the future. If, if they’re not having, if they’re not finding their fish in the wild, what's going to happen? They’re going to either stop breeding or if they do breed, they’re going to just abandon if they’re not finding enough food. And what’s the knock-on effect of that is that the population continues to decline until they become extinct." View Less