South Africa and Namibia

There are also penguins present in Africa: African Penguins (also called Black-footed Penguins or Jackass Penguins) live at the west coasts of Namibia and South Africa and on different islands in the east of South Africa.

African Penguins at Boulders Beach, South Africa

African Penguins

Conservation status and threats

The population of African Penguins has declined drastically in the past years. The main threat to African Penguins are oil spills in the ocean. Oil often ends up in the ocean because of accidents of oil-tankers. Oil in the feathering of penguins leads to severe problems: the isolation of the feathering gets lost and oil has a toxic effect when it gets into the body. Due to the risk of these accidents the IUCN list African Penguins as "endangered" on their Red List of Threatened Species. Other reasons are for example strong competition with the commercial fishery for food or destruction of their habitat by humans. To preserve this species some organisations were established (I was volunteering at SANCCOB).

Boulders Beach

Because of the endangered status of African Penguins Boulders Beach (Simon's Town, South Africa) was declared as wildlife preserve. Boulders Beach is a favorite place to see for tourists. Supervisors and boardwalks prevent a direct contact of tourists to the breeding African Penguins. In summer, you can go on the beach for swimming or picknicking. But then you are still observed by rangers who watch that visitors are not disturbing the penguins. Sometimes, the penguins are naughty because they steal clothes, bags or other objects from the vistiors to have soft materials for their nests.
Tourists are amused about these funny birds but residents are annoyed. If African Penguins do not find any nest site at the beach, they will nest in the gardens of the residents. Penguins are nocturnal animals. They make a great hullabaloo at night-time and that is why the residents cannot sleep well. Besides, the penguins destroy the gardens and penguin poo is everywhere. Nevertheless, residents are not allowed to expel penguins from their property because African Penguins are protected animals.

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