African penguins, a red-listed endangered species, will sleep easier thanks to a Kickstarter project that reached it’s $150,000 goal on June 8.
The money will be used to build and install artificial nests designed to protect the seafaring birds from predators and the elements.
The project comes at a critical time for the birds, said its sponsor, the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
“African penguins are in peril. Where once there were over one million breeding pairs of penguins, now there are only about 25,000. And if we don’t act right now, we could lose the species entirely to extinction,” reads the campaign introduction.
It is a groundbreaking Kickstarter campaign, notes Rob Vernon senior vice president of communications & marketing.
“Kickstarter told us this was the first time a project was set up to help an endangered species,” he said.
The artificial nests will provide similar protection to the burrows African penguins used to nest in.
Those burrows were dug under a stable slab of guano (penguin poop) built up over centuries.
Guano is a great fertilizer and was harvested as a prized commodity, especially during the 1800s.
Some bird colonies left guano deposits 50 meters (164 feet) deep. The substance was so important to agriculture that a guano boom from 1840 to 1870 helped Peru climb out of the initial chaos of its post-independence era and even sparked a war between Spain and its former South American colonies.
Without that stable slab of cover, the penguins had no place to burrow and have been forced to nest in the open, where they are vulnerable to predators.
The plight of the penguins struck a chord with the Kickstarter community. The project, which would have received no money if the all-or-nothing Kickstarter funding goal was not met, reached $150,000 with eight days still left in the campaign.
“We’re completely humbled by the response from the Kickstarter backer community. We are so excited we met our goal before our deadline. We will be announcing a stretch goal of $25,000 which will help build even more nests in Africa,” said Vernon.
The nests took several iterations to arrive at the right construction, explains an info kit provided by the AZA. The nests need to fend off the fierce South African heat and not cook the penguins inside.
The project is just the latest effort AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums have taken to support African penguins. From 2011 to 2015, they invested over $530,000 in African penguin conservation, reads the campaign page.
Rewards for backers who want to help the campaign reach its $25,000 stretch goal include a downloadable Jack Hanna voicemail greeting, one-of-a-kind penguin-painted (walked on) masterpiece, some one-on-one time with real penguins, and more.
