IFAW Rehab'd Penguin spotted in breeding colony 3 yrs after release!

This post was filed by Valeria Ruoppolo, an International Fund for Animal Welfare vet based in Brazil...

The first time we saw penguin IF-0141 was back in May 2006. Together with 194 fellow Magellanic penguins, he had come ashore in the southern tip of Argentina. Victims of an unknown oil spill, the penguins were extremely weak and hypothermic - just moments away from death.

Rescue teams led by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Consejo Agrario Provincial de Santa Cruz (CAP) rushed to the scene and started caring for the birds but the extreme weather conditions at the bottom of the world made the rehabilitation process close to impossible. A critical step towards the penguin’s survival was regaining their feather covering’s waterproofing abilities. Constant exposure to the rehabilitation pools after the oil-cleaning stage is necessary for the rehabilitation to be successful, unfortunately with temperatures ranging from -4° to -14°C (24 to 7° Fahrenheit) teams struggled to keep the indoor pools warm enough and the penguins dry after their swim.

In an urgent bid to save the birds, the provincial government of Santa Cruz and the Argentine Air Force worked with IFAW to airlift 195 penguins to warmer weather up North. On July 11, 2006, the birds arrived to San Clemente del Tuyú home to Fundación Mundo Marino, IFAW’s collaborator in the rescue.

After a few weeks of rehabilitation, the first batch of penguins was released back to the ocean on July 31st, 2006.

Flash-forward to December 2009, just days from the turn of the decade we received news from Pablo Irazoqui, one of the Park Rangers working in Cabo Vírgenes. Pablo had spotted a band on one of the penguins. There he was, number IF-0141, more than 3 years and 2000 km (1242 miles) from where we last saw him swim off!

Pablo took a few pictures and told us that the penguin looked healthy and ‘calm’, less afraid than other penguins at the sight of humans. Pablo and his colleagues at the Park are keeping an eye out for IF-0141 to see if they can spot and document him in his nest with his chicks.

Once again, IF-0141’s story is positive-proof that wildlife can be successfully rehabilitated and released back to the wild. Seeing him healthy after all of these years is yet another cause for celebration as IFAW starts a new decade of rescuing animals in crisis around the world.

Comments

[Lau (desde el Sur!!)]

Great!!!!It`s comforting to know that beatiful work is paying off!

[Info]

Drug Addiction Story

Elizabeth was just 13 years old when she had her first drink – this is a story of her descent into drug addiction. After that first drink, she found she liked the way it made her feel, so she had a couple of more. Before long, she experienced her first time being drunk, and the door had opened.

This story of drug addiction usually paints a very similar picture from addict to addict. They share many aspects of their stories and they often share tragic endings.

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When Elizabeth was 17, a friend offered her some methamphetamine. By this time, she was known as a party girl and wasn’t about to tarnish that image. She snorted the white powder and was transformed. She became more than the life of the party; she became THE party. People wanted to be around her because she was so much fun. She couldn’t believe it took her so long to find this amazing high.

Have you ever had someone tell you a story you just couldn’t believe? Well when you hear a story about drug addiction, it’s all too true and all too believable. It happens every day.

At 19, Elizabeth had a baby. She wasn’t sure who the father was, and the baby was born addicted to crack. The doctors knew this and her son was taken from her before she was even released from the hospital. Despondent over this loss, when she did leave, she immediately sought out her dealer and got high.

The story of drug addiction is painful to read and painful to tell. For those people who are affected by drug addiction, it’s almost excruciating.

Twenty-one year old Elizabeth was arrested for possession of drugs for the third time in one month. She is put in jail to await trial. The judge orders her into a rehabilitation facility. She attends for the required treatment time and, once home, uses drugs after just two days. At 22, her parents are planning her funeral. She was found in her basement dead from a drug overdose.

The story of drug addiction is often bleak and depressing. The tale is told over and over again all over the world. It’s sad because it’s preventable. Don’t let you or a loved one be another tragic story of drug addiction.

[Kim the Zoo Coupons Gal]

How wonderful! That is amazing that just after 3 years. These penguins are just so cute.