SKOKIE, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Students at Fairview South Middle School in Skokie have raised more than $2,500 to help save endangered African penguins.
The students raised the money by selling their own handmade bracelets, bookmarks and 3D-printed pencil holders, key chains and magnets.
Kevin Graham, bird supervisor at the Dallas Zoo and coordinator of the Saving African Penguin Nest Project, told 7th graders at Fairview South over Zoom the artificial nests make a significant difference in the population.
"There's about a 57 percent chance that a chick is successfully raised if they nest inside one of our nests, and [only] a 6 percent chance of survival if they are raised on the surface, out in the open," he said.
Graham and lead zoologist Lyndsey Jones traveled to South Africa in January. She explained that the ceramic-coated nests are needed now that the penguin’s usual nesting material – guano – is gone.
"Guano is actually just the scientific name for poop, but what happened is people discovered that it makes good fertilizer," she said. "People harvested guano. Unfortunately, it did have an effect on the African penguin."
Organizers said the fundraising will help provide 77 of the domed nests. For more information, click here.
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