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African Penguins

latest news & developments
Dying breed: The charismatic seabird, which is endemic to South Africa and Namibia, has lost 97% of its population. If current trends persist, the species will be extinct in the wild by 2035. Photo: Supplied
AFRICAN PENGUINS

African penguins starving

New study finds that some SA populations are estimated to have fallen 95% in only eight years

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
New regulations are in place in a bid to protect the critically endangered African penguin from the harms caused by shipping. Photo: John Yeld
AFRICAN PENGUIN POPULATION

Fishing industry, NGOs unite to save critically endangered African penguins

African penguin conservation wins with new fishing exclusion zones around key breeding islands

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
New regulations are in place in a bid to protect the critically endangered African penguin from the harms caused by shipping. Photo: John Yeld
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Legal delays threaten survival of African Penguins, say conservation groups

Activists say that the litigation to protect the birds’ feeding grounds has been dragged out for months by the state, despite the urgency of the situation

  • John Yeld
4 min read
Artificial nests increased African penguin breeding rates by 16.5%, though there is no one-size-fits-all design for them. (Supplied)
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Boosting breeding success: How artificial nests help endangered African penguins

Artificial nests increased their breeding rates by 16.5%, though there is no one-size-fits-all design for them This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get…

  • Sheree Bega
1 min read
Environment Minister Dion George. (OJ Koloti, Gallo Images)
AFRICAN PENGUINS

DA: Environment minister wants out-of-court settlement on ‘fishing rights versus penguin protection’

The applicants in landmark lawsuit are waiting for a favourable settlement proposal from the Dion George’s legal team

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Penguin ranger Yandisa Cwecwe.
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Yandisa Cwecwe: What it’s like to be a penguin ranger

World Ranger Day is a day of recognition and remembrance for the planet’s rangers safeguarding biodiversity

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
African penguins. File photo
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Killing spree: Honey badger wipes out 11 endangered penguins at Cape reserve

Making the discovery was awful, said seabird conservationist at pioneering colony

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
A group of African penguins are seen during a rehabilitation session in Cape Town, South Africa on March 22, 2022. African penguins, whose populations have fallen sharply in the last century, may become extinct in the next few decades, experts say. File photo by Murat Ozgur Guvendik/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Creecy hauled to court over ‘irrational’ closures around penguin colonies

The closures sound the ‘death knell’ for the seabirds

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
African penguins on Boulders beach, Simon’s Town. File photo
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Ten year fishing limit around African penguin colonies gets thumbs-up

A fishing association has said it is concerned about the endangered penguins, but that the limits on fishing must not threaten the industry

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Fishing around penguin colonies to be limited for 10 years

But it is no ‘miracle intervention’ to save the imperilled seabirds, minister stresses

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
For islands to qualify as suitable for penguins, they needed to offer protection from land-based predators and had to be surrounded by suitable foraging grounds for sardine and anchovy within a 20km radius. Supplied
AFRICAN PENGUINS

African penguin population decline began 20 000 years ago – study

Rising sea levels since the last Ice Age forced them to ‘island hop’ or move to the mainland, which presents an opportunity for their surviva

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Dassen Island Nature Reserve, South Africa, An island in the Atalntic Ocean, 10km west of Yzerfontein, north of Cape Town (Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Shut-down of fishing around African penguin breeding colonies is ‘too little, too late’

Halting fishing will be of little to no benefit to the penguins and fishers believe it will be a sad Christmas

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
(Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Creecy must decide on island closures to either save penguins or retain fishing

The population of the endangered seabirds has plummeted to a record low

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
A group of African penguins are seen during a rehabilitation session in Cape Town, South Africa on March 22, 2022. African penguins, whose populations have fallen sharply in the last century, may become extinct in the next few decades, experts say. File photo by Murat Ozgur Guvendik/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Pioneering project to help save African penguins takes off, bringing renewed hope for the endangered species

So far, 148 juvenile African penguins have been released at De Hoop Nature Reserve in a bid to establish a new breeding colony

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Extinction threat: The African penguins breed on islands off South Africa’s coast, including in the St Croix Island Reserve near the Coega River mouth. Photo: Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild/Getty Images
AFRICAN PENGUINS

Penguins can’t get enough to eat

The causes include commercial fishing near their colonies and a scarcity of sardines and anchovies

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read