How did African penguins get to Africa?

The history of penguins in Africa is a history of false starts. The first penguin pioneers that settled Africa millions of years ago all went extinct. But the penguins didn’t give up. They came back, swept there by ocean currents, and repopulated the African coasts.

Where do African penguins come from?

southern Africa
The African penguin is the only penguin species that occurs off the coast of Africa, and it is endemic to the coast of southern Africa, from Hollams Bird Island, near the central Namibian coast, to Algoa Bay off the coast of the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Where do African penguins migrate to?

MIGRATION: Juvenile African penguins tend to disperse along the coastline to the west and north. Birds regularly reach southern Angola and vagrants have been found off Gabon, Congo, and Mozambique.

How do penguins survive in Africa?

First, African penguins have waterproof feathers which not only helps them swim swiftly through the water, but the feathers also insulate the penguins in cold waters. On land, African penguins use the pink gland above their eyes to keep cool in hot weather.

How did the penguins get to Boulders Beach?

TTo understand our penguins is to understand their history. The story of this penguin colony in Cape Town started in 1983 when a pair was spotted on Foxy Beach at Boulders. The birds came to False Bay from Dyer Island. At the time, False Bay was closed to commercial fishing.

Why is the African penguin endangered?

Populations of the endangered African penguin are declining in the wild due to a variety of threats, including oil spills and depleted prey populations as a result of overfishing.

What has been done to help African penguins?

We support SANCCOB (the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds), a leading marine non-profit organization which has treated more than 90,000 oiled, ill, injured or abandoned endangered African penguins and other threatened seabirds since being established in 1968.

Why is the African penguin important?

Why do they matter? The African penguin is the only species of penguin found in Africa. They play important roles in their ecosystem, both as a food source for sharks and seals and also act as predators to small fish such as anchovies and sardines.

How did the African penguin become endangered?

African penguins have been sliding towards extinction since industrial fishing started around the Cape. BirdLife International report that recent data have revealed that the African penguin is undergoing a very rapid population decline, probably as a result of commercial fisheries and shifts in prey populations.