Did you know? African penguin May 12 2008
Formerly known as the jackass penguin, the African penguin (Spheniscus dermersus) got its original name from its call, which is uncannily similar to that of a donkey.
African penguins are endemic to the Southern African countries of South Africa and Namibia, and mostly occur within a few kilometeres of the coastline. Non-breeding birds spend most of their time at sea.
Their natural predators include great white sharks, Cape fur seas, and occasionally killer whales.
African penguins eat mostly fish, which they most often catch from below, during the daytime. They can easily dive to a depth of about 50m (164ft), but have been recorded diving as deep as 130m (427ft) and more.
While these birds look comical and ungainly on land, in the water, they are efficient, streamlined swimmers that move quickly and gracefully through the ocean, often in synchronicity with one another.
According to the latest assessment of this species for the World Conservation Union’s Red Data List, conducted in 2005, there are only about 180 000 African penguins left, and the birds are classified as “vulnerable”: “This species is classified as Vulnerable because it is undergoing an observed rapid population decline, largely as a result of egg-collecting and habitat degradation caused by guano-collectors and commercial fisheries. A catastrophic oilspill recently occurred, affecting c.40% of the population, and resulting in the world’s biggest seabird rescue operation.”
Watch the Earth-Touch clips:
Penguins follow each other to the water
Penguins line up at sunrise
Penguins dive into stormy sea
Penguin launch
Image: African penguin © Earth-Touch 2008
Sources:
Hockey, PAR, Dean, WRJ and Ryan, PG 2006, Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, VIIth Ed, The Trustees of the Jon Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town
International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Species 2007, Red List of Threatened Species: African penguin.
Retrieved May 10, 2008, from “http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/20608/all"
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