Cape Town: The population of the endangered African penguin continues to decline dramatically. Researchers are sounding the alarm. Along the South African coast, more and more animals are starving as their food supply dwindles. The small black-and-white birds, once a symbol of the country’s rich marine life, are facing an existential crisis.
Overfishing and Climate Change Are Taking a Toll
The main reason for their decline is the shortage of sardines and anchovies, schooling fish on which the penguins depend. Industrial fishing fleets have been harvesting these stocks on a large scale for years. At the same time, rising sea temperatures are pushing the fish schools into cooler regions, often far away from breeding colonies on Robben Island, Boulders Beach, and other coastal areas.
“The animals have to travel increasingly long distances to find food,” says a marine biologist from South Africa’s conservation authority. “Many simply can’t make it back to their chicks.”
Starving Chicks in the Colonies
The situation is particularly dire during the breeding season. In several colonies, abandoned or starving chicks have been found in growing numbers. Even adult penguins sometimes return to land so emaciated that they die shortly afterward. According to conservation organizations, the African penguin population has declined by up to 80 percent over the past decades.
Hope Through New Protective Measures
The South African government is responding: recently, no-fishing zones were established around key breeding sites. Early studies suggest that penguins are finding more food again in these protected areas. At the same time, rescue centers are trying to rehabilitate malnourished chicks before releasing them back into the wild.
At the SANCCOB rescue center in Cape Town, rows of plastic tubs line the room. Each contains a penguin chick wrapped in towels, some on IV drips, some with half-closed eyes. Volunteers mop floors, warm up food slurry, and monitor weights.
But experts warn: without long-term, consistent action, the species could disappear from the wild within a few decades.
A Warning Sign of Ecological Change
The fate of the African penguin is emblematic of an ecosystem out of balance. The struggle for the last schools of fish shows how visible the impact of human activity has become. For many researchers, one thing is clear: time to reverse the trend is running out.
Rosamaria Kubny, PolarJournal