Meet Timbit

Back when we bought our puppy 3 years ago there was much discussion about a name.  Given that dh was agreeable to the purchase, but not the most excited member of the family, I figured if he got to choose the name it would give him an immediate bond with our pup.  So, Boston fan that he is, dh suggested Bruin. 

My dad on the other hand liked the idea of Timbit.  You see the pups sires was named Timber, which, my dad reasoned, made him a Timbit.  DH won out.  Bruin he became and dh loves him to death. In fact dh was the one that insisted that he must make the journey to South Africa with us.

Flash to last week when we were at Cape Recife and went to SAMREC (South African Marine Rescue and Education Centre).  We learned quite a bit about African Penguins.  In fact 2 islands just off the coast near PE are home to a good number of penguins.  The islands are Bird Island and St. Croix. 

Back in the fall of 2010 African Penguins were added to the endangered species list.   One of the reasons why, is because feeding sources are getting farther and farther away from breeding areas.  When a mom or dad penguin feeds it's chick, it regurgitates some of the fish it has eaten.  The further away the food source, the more the fish gets digested in mom or dads stomach leaving less to regurgitate for the chicks.  Chicks become malnourished and parents end up abandoning them.  This is where SAMREC steps in.

Once a week national natural resources staff go to the islands to track and monitor the penguin populations.  Any obviously sick ones are brought to the centre.  Likewise a quick call to the centre and they will come to pick up any penguins that are found on beaches throughout the area that seem sick or abandoned.  They rehabilitate the birds and release them back into the wild. 

When we visited SAMREC there was a display with a number of photos of chicks on the wall.  We were told by the guide that these chicks had been brought in from Bird Island a month earlier at one month of age.  A large storm was approaching and the natural resources staff were concerned for the chicks safety as they nest in rock crevasses while mom and dad are away.  If the amount of rain forecast was correct these chicks would be drowned in their crevasses.  Moms and dads had abandoned them with the impending storm.  They were too young to get care for themselves. So they were all brought to SAMREC to be fed and medically checked.  Given that there were 40 chicks brought in at one time, the centre was stretched financially and set up a chick adoption plan.

For a financial donation to help care for a chick, you could name the chick, be given a VIP pass for free entry to the centre to see your chick and would get regular updates on their progress, along with the tracking number that they would be given on release.  So, any sightings by natural resources staff would be trackable by adoptive parents. 

The kids really wanted to help one of these chicks, and so did I for that matter.  So we had to come up with a name.  We wanted to keep it somewhat Canadian.  Maple and maple syrup were suggested.  DS#2 really wanted to call him Steve :)  Finally, we settled on Timbit.  That had been our second choice for our pup, so it made sense that our next adopted animal should have the name. It kept with the Canadian theme and the chick was little, just like a Timbit.
DD, at age 5, didn't quite understand the adoption process and asked me how often we were going to take Timbit back to the centre to visits his brothers and sisters. I had to explain that penguins are not like puppies and that we were not bringing him home.  She was a little sad, but when I assured her that SAMREC would take good care of him and we would hopefully get a chance to see him released back to the wild she cheered right up. 

So chick #25 became Timbit. 

If you're interested in how the rescue and release process works you can watch this video link  SAMREC.

Now we just anxiously await Timbits release.  The staff hope that it will be in the next 2 weeks or so.  I'm glad the kids are on a midterm break.  It means we should all be able to attend the release.

For more on SAMREC you can visit their facebook page just look for SAMREC - SA MARINE RESCUE AND EDUCATION CENTRE.
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