African Penguin on the Brink of Extinction
The African Penguin has been officially uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, highlighting the species’ severe risk of extinction. With a staggering 97% of its population already lost, the bird could vanish from the wild in fewer than 4,000 days unless urgent conservation efforts are made.
By Charlie Malcolm-McKay, in collaboration with BirdLife South Africa.
The southern tip of Africa is renowned worldwide for its incredible wildlife diversity and richness. Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to South Africa and Namibia to experience the wonders of this nature. However, this beautiful coastal region is also facing a devastating crisis: a man-made disaster that threatens the very existence of a unique species. The African Penguin is now on the brink of extinction.
Once, millions of these birds graced the coasts of South Africa and Namibia. Today, fewer than 32,000 remain in the wild—just 1% of the original population.
With their distinctive tuxedo-like plumage and lively social behaviour, these small yet striking creatures are a familiar sight along the shoreline. African Penguins are also essential in sustaining marine food chains and coastal ecosystems. However, their population has declined so drastically that they have now been upgraded from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.
One of the most pressing issues is the significant decline in food availability, primarily driven by competition with commercial purse-seine fishing and the impacts of climate change on prey distribution. The intense fishing pressure in the waters surrounding their breeding colonies has led to a stark depletion of small pelagic fish, which are essential for the penguins’ diet.
Warming sea temperatures and changing ocean currents are altering the availability of their preferred prey, mainly sardines and anchovies, forcing young penguins to search for food in increasingly unproductive areas. As a result, juvenile survival rates have plummeted, with reports of adult penguins abandoning their nests in a desperate search for food. While diseases like avian flu have also contributed to their declining numbers, studies highlight that the combined effects of commercial fishing and climate change remain the most critical threats to the African Penguin population.
Alistair McInnes, Seabird Conservation Programme Manager, BirdLife South Africa points out that “The main issue is their food supply and other threats at sea, which people don’t see, when people visit colonies at Stony Point or Boulders, they see the birds in large groups and don’t understand the level of threat or what’s affecting the penguin populations.”
Although no-take zones, where fishing is prohibited, have been established to help restore fish populations, recent research by leading ornithologists reveals that these efforts are falling short. These protected areas are proving inadequate for penguin conservation, with the number of breeding pairs dropping to below 10,000 for the first time in history.
Nicky Stander, Head of Conservation, SANCCOB said “The African Penguin is in a dire situation and we cannot afford to wait any longer to protect the species properly. In just over a decade, they could no longer exist, which not only has an impact on our marine ecosystem, but also on South Africa’s economy and ecotourism. These animals are beloved and quintessential to South Africa and governments, organisations, and individuals must come together to save them at all costs.”
BirdLife Partner, BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB have joined forces, with the support of ocean conservation charity Blue Marine, to urge the South African government and the international community to take immediate action to save the African Penguin. Specifically, BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB are taking legal action aimed at increasing protection for the African Penguin. With support from the Biodiversity Law Centre, these two non-profit organizations have filed a case against the South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment. Their goal is to challenge the Minister’s current island closures to purse-seine fishing, which they argue are “biologically meaningless” and fail to protect the penguins.
The legal action aims to replace the existing no-fishing zones with re-configured areas that better overlap with the penguins’ key feeding grounds, while still minimising the impact on the fishing industry. The proposed zones would cover six major penguin colonies, helping to reduce competition for food and allowing fish stocks to recover, ultimately boosting the penguins’ chances of survival.
Join us in calling on the South African government to take urgent action to protect one of the world’s most endangered penguin species and ensure the health of our oceans for future generations. Your support could be crucial in driving meaningful and lasting change.
Learn about BirdLife South Africa’s efforts to re-establish an African Penguin breeding colony here.
