![]() ![]() ![]() When foraging for food, they may do so alone or in groups of anywhere between 25–165 penguins. They might also eat cephalopods (such as squid), mackerel, hake, and redeye. The main prey of African penguins is schooling pelagic fish including anchovies, sardines, and bearded goby. Hauserman, et al., The Smithsonian Institution). This is because they have a higher proportion of fish in their diet which is far less salty than the marine invertebrates which are more prevalent in the diet of other species 11 (source: S.L. This means that penguins don’t need to worry about ingesting salt water as they catch and eat their prey in the sea.Īfrican penguins have a smaller salt gland than most other species. The salt is removed in water droplets through their nostrils by sneezing or shaking their head 10 (source: Britannica). However, their kidney is not very efficient at processing salt so they have evolved a salt gland (also known as a super orbital gland) near their eye, which removes salt from their blood. They are able to drink salt water thanks to a special salt glandĪfrican penguins spend most of their lives at sea or around coastal areas where the only water available for consumption is saltwater. However, the average dive depth when foraging is about 30m 9 (sources: Journal of Experimental Biology and Penguins: Natural History and Conservation).ĩ. So they must be good at diving.Īfrican Penguins can dive to 85m with a single dive lasting for up to 2.5 minutes. Penguins may spend around 75% of their day-to-day life in the ocean and use it as a hunting ground for catching prey 8 (source: S. Weller, et al., Ecological Modelling, Vol 327, 2016). This has been a major cause of population decline in areas such as Dyer Island 7 (source: F. The lack of prey is a new threat facing African Penguins, this is due to the combined effect of climate change and industrial fishing which have depleted forage fish in areas where they hunt.Īfrican penguins are increasingly preyed upon by the Cape Fur Seal. They are one of five endangered penguin species along with Yellow-eyed Penguins, Galapagos Penguins, Erect Crested Penguins, and Northern Rockhopper Penguins.Įgg poaching played a large role in the decreasing population of African Penguins, although this has now been made illegal. It’s thought that without conservation areas, they would already be extinct today 6 (source: IUCN). That’s a 95% decline 5 (source: The Conversation).Įrect-crested penguins are classified as endangered by the IUCN due to significant population declines. There are just 41,700 African penguins leftĭespite the total 30-31 million penguins left in the wild, just 41,700 of these are African penguins according to the latest estimates, and this number is decreasing rapidly.īack in In the early 20 th century, there were estimated to be anywhere between 1.5-3 million African penguins. They tend to stay within 20km of the shoreline although have been spotted as far as 100km away 1 (source: IUCN).Īll penguins live in the southern hemisphere, the below map shows where different species are located.ĥ. Outside of breeding season, they have been spotted as far north as Gabon, Mozambique, Congo, and Angola. They breed at 28 different places on the continent. ![]() They are found along the southern coast of Namibia and South Africa. ![]() Starting with the most obvious fact about African penguins, they live in Africa and are the only penguin species to breed there. They are the only species of penguin found in Africa In this article, we’ll share 15 interesting African penguin facts, from their diet and habitat to their burrows made from poop and same-sex partnerships. These endangered birds are known for their distinctive braying call, which sounds like a donkey. African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) are a fascinating penguin found along the southwestern coast of Africa. ![]()
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