Marine and Coastal Management Private Bag X2

Movements, survival, age of first recorded breeding and the success of rehabilitating oiled African Penguins were investigated using re-sightings of flipper-banded birds. Seventeen penguin colonies between Algoa Bay and Lambert’s Bay, South Africa, were visited between March 1995 and October 1999. Flipper-band numbers were read using binoculars and a telescope and recorded along with details of the activity of the banded birds. All sightings of banded penguins were entered into a database, providing details of 11 623 birds. The database was investigated for incidences of movements of penguins between different breeding colonies and for evidence of emigration and immigration. For birds of known age, i.e. those banded as chicks, the age at which they were first recorded breeding was calculated. The computer program MARK was used to evaluate annual survival rates for adult penguins and for those in their first year of life. The proportion of hand-reared, orphaned chicks that survived to breeding age was compared to that of naturally fledged chicks. Annual and long-term survival o