Oldest living African penguin saved from skin cancer
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E-mail CNTV, January 14, 2015
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It came as quite a shock to friends and keepers when the world's oldest living African penguin in captivity was diagnosed with skin cancer. |
"What used to be a quick jaunt into the ocean and a five kilometer swim which is nothing for a penguin is now turning into a marathon. When they don't have energy sources they can't breed as well. There's young that are not being fed as well," Johnston says.
So where once several million African penguins lived in the wild, now there are fewer than 200,000 and the number is dropping.
"The African penguins at the current predictions will be extinct within the next 20 years," Johnston says.
"It hurts to know as someone who loves life in all of its glorious forms that my kid may go the Western Cape and not get to see the nesting penguins because they're amazing to see," Johnston says.
He hopes Tess' story shines a light on the African penguin problem and leads to action.
"Yeah I like to think of her as an ambassador for awareness," he says.
An ambassador who continues to age gracefully, delighting her zoo keeper and everyone else.
"Anything past 40 is just you know. Gravy, yeah," says Pococke.
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