Peru zoo races to save birds threatened by oil spill

More than 40 birds, including Humboldt penguins, listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, were brought to the Parque de Las Leyendas zoo after being rescued from polluted beaches and nature reserves.

“The birds’ prognosis is unclear,” biologist Liseth Bermudez said. “We are doing everything we can. It is not a common occurrence and we are doing our best.”

A team of veterinarians is caring for the birds, bathing them with special detergents to remove the suffocating oil.

The animals have also been given antifungal and antibacterial drugs, as well as vitamins.

“We have never seen anything like this in the history of Peru,” said Bermudez, while tending to a bird. “We didn’t think it was going to be of this magnitude.”

Peru has declared an environmental emergency after almost a million litres (264,000 gallons) of crude spilled into the sea last week  when a tanker was hit by big waves while offloading at a refinery.

The abnormally large waves were triggered by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the archipelago of Tonga, thousands of kilometres away.

The spill near Lima has fouled beaches and harmed the fishing and tourism industries, and crews have been working non-stop to clean up the mess.

Biologist Guillermo Ramos of Peru’s Serfor forestry service said more animals will die if the oil spreads.

“There are species here that feed on crustaceans and fish that are already contaminated,” he said.

Serfor staff have found many dead birds and sea otters on beaches and in natural reserves since the spill, he added.

More than 150 bird species in Peru depend on the sea for nutrition and reproduction