The Cape’s jackass penguin rescue operation didn’t always run as smoothly as the public may believe, reports Fiona Macleod
‘CRUDE is rude, dude” proclaims the T-shirt worn by an American volunteer washing oil-ravaged jackass penguins at the rescue centre run by the South African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) in Cape Town.
The T-shirt, depicting the horror of a surfer trapped in waves of crude oil, is a grim reminder of the worst oil spill in history, when the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989. It also serves as a warning to South Africa that the recent oil spill off the Western Cape coast may unfortunately not be the last, and that the next could be a lot worse. More than half the world’s oil tankers now pass our coastline and the condition of bulk carriers such as the Apollo Sea, which was responsible for the Cape oil spill, is rapidly deteriorating due to economic depression and inadequate safety measures.
The man wearing the T-shirt is a veteran of clean-up operations following the Exxon Valdez disaster and numerous others around the world. He is a member of a team of American experts sent out to South Africa by the California-based International Bird Rescue Research Centre (IBRRC), shortly after the news on June 24 that the huge oil slick rising to the surface off the Cape coast threatened to wipe out breeding colonies of the endangered jackass penguins.
Says IBRRC director Jay Holcomb: “When we first heard about the Cape oil spill, we discussed coming out but decided there was no way we could afford to do so. Then we saw footage of penguins being picked up by their beaks, and our minds were made up. We caught the first plane here and left our financial problems for the future.
“Our arrival at the Sanccob centre confirmed our worst fears. It was during the school holidays and there were kids everywhere, making a helluva racket, some of them roaring around on rollerskates. The penguins were crammed into tiny, filthy pens and fish were being forced down their throats by people who may have had the best intentions, but certainly didn’t know what they were doing.
“There was no management, no infrastructure and nobody seemed to want to take control of the situation. I spent my first few days here washing buckets.”
It’s a tale which makes well-known South African ornithologist Geoff Lockwood, who has also been involved in the penguin rescue operation, fume: “Using someone with the expertise of Jay Holcomb to wash buckets in such a crisis is simply unacceptable.
“It is a sad indictment of an organisation which has failed to keep abreast with developments and open lines of communication with similar organisations in order to guarantee that its products and treatment are the best possible.”
The “lack of organisation and of a master plan in advance” are two of the main issues Lockwood would like to see addressed by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, which intends convening a workshop of all the organisations involved in the rescue operation after the last of the rehabilitated penguins have been released.
“It’s certain that this is not the last oil-spill disaster to hit the Cape,” he says. “We must ensure that the lessons learnt will put not just Sanccob, but everyone involved, in a better position to deal with this kind of crisis in the future.”
For the past six weeks, the IBRRC team has been working in close co- operation with a group of 20 South African conservation experts flown to Cape Town and sponsored by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw). This local group includes Lockwood and Karen Trendler of the Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Arc) near Pretoria, as well as representatives of Johannesburg Conservation and the PWV Administration’s Directorate of Nature Conservation.
There is no doubt the professionalism and dedication of the IBRRC and Ifaw-sponsored teams has helped save the lives of thousands of penguins. Working from sunrise to sundown and often beyond, seven days a week, their contribution to the rescue operation has been invaluable.
But their efforts have not received a single mention, let alone any word of thanks, in the numerous articles and advertisements about the rescue featured in the South African media.
All the publicity and kudos have gone to Sanccob, Cape Nature Conservation (CNC) and various branches of the defence force. In an advert in the Sunday Times Magazine on July 24, for example, Sanccob specifically thanked SAS Wingfield, Ysterplaat Air Base, the SANDF and the CNC.
But not once has Sanccob publicly acknowledged the role of IBRRC, Ifaw, Arc or conservation departments outside the Cape. In private conversation, members of Sanccob’s executive committee and staff readily admit the “outsiders” have made an invaluable contribution — so why steadfastly refuse to acknowledge it publicly?
“If deliberate, it’s an unacceptable pettiness from an organisation dedicated to the welfare of the penguins,” says Lockwood. “If not, it can at best be described as an unfortunate oversight.”
Ifaw and the IBRRC have each ploughed more than R100 000 into the rescue operation. Both are non-governmental, non-profit organisations dependent on public goodwill and support for survival. How do they feel about being left out of the picture?
“There have been times when the primary purpose of the project, which is to save the jackass penguins, has been lost in the battle for political influence and the bid to score brownie points in the press,” says Ifaw’s southern African representative, David Barritt.
“But Ifaw will stick to its foremost concern: the welfare of the birds. There’s no doubt that they have benefited from the input of the different experts.”
Holcomb is similarly sanguine: “Look, people who work with animals tend to become extremely protective of their charges. In operations like this, you’re bound to come up against competing egos and communication problems.
“But it’s important to bear in mind that society expects a totally professional response from organisations involved in such operations. It’s important not to fail such public perceptions.”
Dr Rob Crawford, chairman of Sanccob, responded: “Sanccob is certainly very grateful to Arc, Ifaw and the IBRRC, so if acknowledgements haven’t been what they should have been, this was an oversight and definitely not deliberate. We can explain this by the fact that we weren’t aware of the presence of experts when they arrived as they didn’t introduce themselves to us until later. But we don’t want to be critical of them at all — we’re very grateful for the work they’ve done.
“As far as the chaos goes: this was a larger operation than we have ever previously handled. We negotiated with the Southern African Nature Foundation to get the organisational assistance it offered us; what happened in the end was that CNC simultaneously offered assistance and we gratefully accepted this.
“The advert in the Sunday Times was paid for by sponsors; we wouldn’t use our money in that way. We tried to thank as many people as possible, but couldn’t thank everyone. At that stage we probably weren’t aware of all the organisations involved.
“I have written letters to all organisations involved thanking them for their help. We have also decided to offer them life membership of Sanccob for their contribution.
“We do appreciate the financial input of IBRRC and the other organisations and have contributed to their expenses — not fully, we weren’t able to do that. It is very difficult when somebody flies in from America to suddenly find the airfare. But we are very, very grateful for the help we received.”
* Fiona Macleod is a WM&G staff member who spent two weeks at the Sanccob rescue centre, working for and financed by Ifaw. Ifaw officials had nothing to do with the compilation of this article