SOUTH AFRICA

Innovative post-operative care helps penguins recover

Injured SA penguins fitted with wetsuit bootees          
  

PENGUIN STYLE Animal welfare officials are using up-cycled wetsuits to make booties for penguin amputees
Image: SANCCOB

Penguin amputees are being fitted with special bootees to help them recover from their injuries, according to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.

The bootees are fitted on penguin amputees “to protect their stumps during the healing process,” SANCCOB said in their latest annual report released this week. “African penguins are often admitted to SANCCOB with severely injured feet and legs. Sometimes the injuries are so severe that it is not possible to save the damaged foot,” SANCCOB said.

“Fortunately, penguins can adapt and have demonstrated the ability to live and breed successfully in the wild with only one foot because they mainly use their flippers for swimming.”

The special bootees, introduced this year to improve postoperative care, are made from recycled wetsuit material which does not inhibit the penguin’s swimming ability. “They are more comfortable and easier to replace than bandages and the penguins can swim with them on.

“The veterinary and rehabilitation teams also improved the design for the splints that are used to support injured hocks and even made some tiny bootees for gulls that had lost a foot,” SANCCOB said.

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