Fiberglass Igloos for Penguins.

Photo: CapeNature

The penguins on Dyer Island near Cape Town, South Africa, are getting fiberglass igloos because mining had stripped the island of guano, which the penguins used to build their nests:

Dyer Island, a bleak islet popular with shark spotting tours, was once rich in nutrient-rich guano — bird feces — but has seen the resource stripped by commercial enterprises who sell it as fertilizer.

That proved bad news for the African penguins — formerly known as Jackass penguins — which rely on guano to nest their eggs, hide from predators and provide a rare spot of shade on an island almost devoid of trees and bushes.

Conservationists now plan to construct up to 2,000 artificial burrows on the island, hoping the fiberglass igloos will persuade more penguins to procreate.

Link – via Arbroath