As African penguin population dwindles, researchers plan new colony

South Africa plans to release around 50 juvenile birds each year for several years

Published: November 09, 2020 16:36 Reuters and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

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Cape Town: South African researchers plan to release scores of abandoned, hand-reared African penguin chicks at the Western Cape's De Hoop nature reserve, boosting efforts to start a new breeding colony of the seabirds at risk of extinction. Image Credit: Reuters

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The only penguin that breeds in Africa, it was once South Africa's most abundant seabird. Image Credit: Reuters

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But the population plunged to around 13,000 breeding pairs last year, from more than 1 million pairs in the 1920s, when their eggs started to be harvested for human consumption, government data shows. Image Credit: Reuters

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Researchers have since January 2019 deployed dummy penguins that emit the distinctive call of the birds to try to entice them onshore at De Hoop, 230 km (140 miles) southeast of Cape Town. But success has been limited. Image Credit: Reuters

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They now plan to release around 50 juvenile birds each year for several years, starting in early 2021, to try to establish a breeding colony at De Hoop, a protected site. Image Credit: Reuters

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"A couple of months ago when I was at the site, I saw a juvenile penguin within 10 metres of the shore, said Christina Hagen, who leads the project. Image Credit: Reuters

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"Unfortunately, it didn't come ashore." Hagen said hand-reared chicks were normally released into existing colonies, such as those at former apartheid prison Robben Island or at Boulders beach, a tourist attraction. Image Credit: Reuters

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De Hoop had good fishing waters critical to a new colony, Hagen said, and had been settled briefly by penguins in the mid-2000s, but deserted by the seabirds when leopards started preying on them. Image Credit: Reuters

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Found at nesting sites only in South Africa and Namibia, the decline of natural African penguin populations has been attributed mainly to dwindling fish stocks, including anchovy and sardines, and worsened by climate change. Image Credit: Reuters

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"It is hard to say if they'll actually go extinct, but it is a real possibility and we are doing all that we can to prevent that," said Hagen. Image Credit: Reuters

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Pair of rescued penguins sit in an enclosure while being treated at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary in Gansbaai, South Africa. Image Credit: Reuters

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Endangered African penguin is seen at Boulders Beach, near Cape Town, South Africa. Image Credit: Reuters

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