Population crash means African penguins are now critically endangered

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 […]

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One of the World’s Oldest Penguins Hatches a Chick with New Boy Toy 26 Years Younger

One of the World’s Oldest Penguins Hatches a Chick with New Boy Toy 26 Years Younger

A great-great-great grandmother Humboldt pengiun in England’s blustery eastern coast has brought a member of yet another generation into the world after she shacked up with a bird 20-plus years her junior. Windy surprised everyone at the zoo when during the last breeding season she paired with 4-year-old Nacho. A pairing doesn’t guarantee that mating […]

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Penguins in peril: why two bird charities are taking South Africa’s environment minister to court

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, […]

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