ADOPT A PENGUIN PROGRAMME
10 MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. How do I adopt a penguin?
To adopt a penguin, download the Adopt a Penguin information sheet and application form from SANCCOB’s website. Read the information carefully, complete the application form and submit the form to SANCCOB (with proof of payment if you are making a direct deposit). Don’t forget to name your penguin (if you wish to).

2. How much does it cost to adopt a penguin?
It costs R500 to adopt one penguin.

3. Is the fee a once off payment?
It is a once off fee and the adoption (letter, certificate and photo for your individual penguin) is yours for life.

4. What is the exchange rate?
Currency exchange rates change constantly. To determine the exact exchange rate from South African Rands to your currency, contact your bank, use the internet or use the currency converter on SANCCOB’s website (www.sanccob.co.za). Please do not ask SANCCOB to determine the exchange rate for your currency, as we receive an enormous amount of queries from all over the world.

5. How long will it take to process my adoption?
Once payment is received, the application process takes a minimum of 10-15 working days, excluding posting time. All overseas adoptions are sent air-mail. Adoptions are processed in the order they are received.

6. How long does air-mail take?
Adoptions sent via air-mail may arrive within a week or a month, depending on the post office.

7. What will I receive in my adoption pack?
You will receive the following in your adoption pack:

· a letter of adoption-including a brief description of why your penguin received treatment at SANCCOB
· a photograph of your penguin
· a certificate of adoption and
· back-copies of our newsletter

8. Will I receive updates about the penguin I adopt?
Once you receive your adoption pack, you will be added to our database and you will receive our yearly newsletter. You will not receive further correspondence from SANCCOB regarding your penguin. SANCCOB is a sea bird rehabilitation centre. We rescue, rehabilitate and release ill, injured, oiled and orphaned sea birds.

9. Will I be able to see the penguin I adopt?
You will probably not be able to see your penguin. SANCCOB releases the penguins back into the wild once they have completed their rehabilitation. Your penguin could end up at any number of colonies along the coast of South Africa.

10. Do I get to keep the penguin I adopt?
You do not get to keep the penguin. SANCCOB is a sea bird rehabilitation centre. Our purpose is to rescue, rehabilitate and release ill, injured and oiled sea birds. When you adopt a penguin, you can rest assured that your bird was released back into the wild.

ADOPT A PENGUIN

There were about 1.5 million adult African Penguins along the southern African coast in the 1930’s. Human activities reduced this number by a staggering 90% in less than a century. The African Penguin, together with over a dozen other sea bird species found in South Africa, is considered to be threatened and vulnerable to extinction.

SANCCOB aims to protect and conserve southern Africa’s coastal birds, especially threatened species, for the benefit of present and future generations. Recent research by the Avian Demography Unit at the University of Cape Town has shown that the African Penguin population is 19% higher today than it would have been in the absence of SANCCOB’s efforts in rehabilitation.

SANCCOB has responded to every oil spill along the South African coast since 1968 and has helped to treat more than 83 000 ill, injured, orphaned and oiled sea birds throughout the last 37 years. Our efforts in conservation continue 365 days each year due to the fact that increasing numbers of our vulnerable sea bird species require rehabilitation year round.

Our centre treated 817 African Penguins in 2001, 977 penguins in 2002, 1,052 penguins in 2003 and 951 penguins in 2005 - despite the fact that there were no major oil spills in those years.

You can help us to save a species by adopting an African Penguin.

Penguin adoptions are quite simple. Each year during our busy winter season (June-November) we photograph each rehabilitated penguin before it is released back into the wild. Each bird receives a metal flipper-band before it is released. The medical history of the bird corresponds to the number on the band and this information is captured onto our database. To adopt a penguin, we look up its number and provide you with:

• a letter of adoption - including a brief medical history (where the bird came from, what was wrong with it, how much it weighed on admission and release etc.) (View Example)
• a photograph of your penguin (View Example)
• a certificate of adoption (View Example)
• back-copies of our newsletter

The documents are then posted to you and your bird can never be adopted by anyone else.

Each adoption costs R500 and the application process takes a minimum of 10-15 working days, excluding posting time. Adoptions are processed the order they are received.

For more information, please see the Adopt a Penguin Application Form.

Click here for the Penguin Adoption form