The African Penguin, once numbering in the millions, has now dwindled to fewer than 9,900 breeding pairs, raising fears it could vanish within a decade. Conservationists warn that overfishing of sardines and anchovies, combined with habitat loss and predators, is driving the species toward extinction. At Stony Point colony near Cape Town, researchers are working […]
Tag: African penguin
Petition: Argentina Must Act Now to Save Its Magellanic Penguins
Around the world, penguins are facing a rapidly declining population due to climate change – but also thanks to unsustainable fishing practices. Thankfully, South Africa just showed the world that can change. A compromise between the country’s conservationists and the fishing industry led to the establishment of no-fishing zones around African penguin breeding colonies for […]
As Oceans Warm, Predators Are Falling Out of Sync with Their Prey
For decades on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast, recreational anglers have braved the cold temperatures of late October and November to chase one of the region’s most iconic fish species, the striped bass. This season, just offshore of New Jersey and New York, the fall run was especially strong. “The amount of fish and [their size] […]
Population crash means African penguins are now critically endangered
Africa’s only resident penguin species is now officially critically endangered, according to a recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Over the past century, the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) has suffered precipitous declines in its population. In the mid-1950s, there were an estimated 141,000 breeding pairs of African penguins, or 282,000 […]
African Penguins Face Dire Future as Fish Stocks Decline
Conservationists watch and note as Penguin 999.000000007425712 returns to the Stony Point colony in Betty’s Bay, South Africa, after a day of foraging. She left early in the morning weighing 2.7 kg and returned having gained only 285 grams, a worrying sign of dwindling fish stocks. Eleanor Weideman, a coastal seabird project manager for BirdLife […]
Penguins in peril: why two bird charities are taking South Africa’s environment minister to court
It’s 3.40pm on a Thursday and Penguin 999.000000007425712 has just returned to the Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Bay, South Africa, after a day of foraging. She glides elegantly through the turquoise waters before clambering comically up the rocks towards the nest where her partner is incubating two beige eggs. She doesn’t realise it, […]