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Birdlife South Africa

latest news & developments
Qualified bird handlers fitting a satellite tracking device to a Curlew Sandpiper. Photo: BirdLife South Africa
AFRICA EURASIAN FLYWAY

Tiny birds, vast journeys: Inside SA’s first shorebird tracking project

BirdLife South Africa launches its first tracking project for migratory shorebirds, revealing complex journeys and new conservation priorities across the Africa–Eurasian flyway

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Botha’s Lark pictured in recently burnt grassland
BIRD CONSERVATION PROGRAMMES

Rediscovery of South Africa’s most endangered bird sparks hope

Fewer than 340 Botha’s Larks remain in the wild

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
African penguins, endemic to Southern Africa, are one of the most threatened seabird species globally and they face the risk of extinction in the wild by 2035. Populations have shrunk by 90% in the past 70 years, dwindling to about 8 500 breeding pairs today.
AFRICAN PENGUIN CONSERVATION

African penguin survival at risk despite ship-to-ship transfer laws

The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment says the regulations are designed to prevent pollution and protect coastal ecosystems

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
A griffon vulture flies over the sky after released into nature after taken care of Celal Acar Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center at Uludag National Park in Bursa, Turkiye on January 04, 2024. The griffon vulture, which was in danger of extinction and was found injured and exhausted, was released into its natural habitat after treatment. (Photo by Semih Sahin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
2025 RED DATA BOOK OF BIRDS

Red alert for South Africa’s birds: 147 bird species threatened in South Africa, Lesotho & Eswatin

BirdLife South Africa publishes revised Red Data Book highlighting urgent bird conservation crisis in Southern Africa

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
BIRDLIFE SOUTH AFRICA

High court offers hope for lesser flamingos at ‘cesspool’ Kamfers Dam

BirdLife South Africa celebrates the ruling to save imperilled site

  • Sheree Bega
7 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
African penguins, endemic to Southern Africa, are one of the most threatened seabird species globally and they face the risk of extinction in the wild by 2035. Populations have shrunk by 90% in the past 70 years, dwindling to about 8 500 breeding pairs today.
AFRICAN PENGUIN

Conservationists fight for scientifically-informed fishing closures to ensure African penguin survival

The applicants argue that the forestry, fisheries and environment minister’s interim fishing closures are ‘biologically meaningless’

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
The poor condition of the water in Kamfers Dam. (Ester van der Westhuizen-Coetzer)
AVIAN BOTULISM OUTBREAK

Sewage crisis at Kamfers Dam causes ‘biodiversity nightmare’ for waterbirds

Lab findings suggest botulism as the cause of the bird deaths, made worse by sewage from the Homevale wastewater treatment works

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

South Africa’s blue swallow and African penguin in critical decline

Conservation efforts pay off for the southern bald ibis, now downlisted to near threatened after decades of protection

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
In March, Hera was one of two individuals tagged with tiny, solar-powered satellite trackers through BirdLife South Africa’s European roller monitoring project. (BirdLife SA)
AFRO PALEARCTIC MIGRANT

Hera the European roller’s epic migration uncovers new flight paths for bird conservation

Tagged by BirdLife SA, Hera completed a 10 000 km journey from Limpopo to her breeding ground in Uzbekistan

  • Sheree Bega
5 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
African penguins on Boulders beach, Simon’s Town. File photo
AFRICAN PENGUIN BREEDING COLONIES

High court will hear urgent case to save critically endangered African penguins

Outgoing minister accused of placing fishing industry interests above the survival of penguins

  • John Yeld
4 min read
It might be South Africa’s most threatened endemic bird species but conservation measures to save the enigmatic Botha’s Lark from extinction have started.
BOTHA S LARK

Work to save SA’s most threatened endemic bird species takes flight

There are only about 340 individual Botha’s Larks left in the wild This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free Account The Mail & Guardian is…

  • Sheree Bega
1 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