Lesions associated with drowning in bycaught penguins.

Fisheries bycatch, the incidental mortality that occurs as a result of entanglement in fishing gear, is an important conservation threat to penguins and other seabirds. Identification of entanglement and drowning in beach-cast carcasses of seabirds remains a challenge, as it is still unclear what lesions are to be expected in a bycaught seabird. We necropsied 2 Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus that were entangled and drowned in gillnets.

Herpesvirus-like respiratory infection in African penguins Spheniscus demersus admitted to a rehabilitation centre.

Rehabilitation is an important strategy for the conservation of the Endangered African penguin Spheniscus demersus, and disease has been raised as a concern in the management of the species, both in the wild and in rehabilitation centres. We report 8 cases of herpesvirus-like respiratory infection in African penguin chicks undergoing rehabilitation between 2010 and 2013 at a facility in Cape Town, South Africa. Infection was confirmed through the identification of viral inclusions in the tracheal epithelium and demonstration of particles consistent with herpesvirus by electron microscopy, whereas virus isolation in eggs, serology and PCR testing failed to detect the virus.