Survival and movements of Magellanic penguins rehabilitated from oil fouling along the coast of South America, 2000-2010.
Oil pollution is a significant conservation concern. We examined data from six institutions along the coast of South America: Emergency Relief Team of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Fundación Mundo Marino, Centro de Recuperação de Animais Marinhos, Natura Patagonia, Associação R3 Animal, and Mar del Plata Aquarium and data from resightings in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Falkland/Malvinas Islands. From 2000 to 2010, 2183 oiled Magellanic penguins were rehabilitated as part of the routine activities of these institutions or during emergency responses to eight oil spills in which they were involved; all rehabilitated penguins were flipper banded and released. Since their release, 41 penguins were resighted until 31 December 2011. The results demonstrate that, when combined with other prevention strategies, the rehabilitation of Magellanic penguins is a strategy that contributes to the mitigation of adverse effects of oil spills and chronic pollution to the species.
Emergency Relief Team, International Fund for Animal Welfare, 290 Summer Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675, USA. vruoppolo@ifaw.org
Valeria
V
Ruoppolo
Ralph Eric Thijl
RE
Vanstreels
Eric J
EJ
Woehler
Sergio Andres Rodríguez
SA
Heredia
Andréa Corrado
AC
Adornes
Rodolfo Pinho
RP
da Silva-Filho
Ricardo
R
Matus
Carla
C
Poleschi
Karen
K
Griot
Cristiane K Miyaji
CK
Kolesnikovas
Patrícia
P
Serafini
D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002677:Chile; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation; D019432:Falkland Islands; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D046429:Spheniscidae / Q000502:physiology*