The African penguin is the sole penguin species that breeds on the African continent, nesting on offshore islands and a few mainland sites along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia. Once numbering well over a hundred thousand breeding pairs, it has undergone one of the steepest declines documented for any seabird, with fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remaining by the early 2020s [Sherley et al. 2020][Mongabay 2024]. It is a flagship for the wider crisis facing the Benguela upwelling ecosystem on which it depends.
Biology and Identification
The African penguin is a medium-sized banded penguin, standing roughly 60–68 cm tall and weighing about 2.2–4 kg, with a black back, a white belly, and a distinctive single black band of feathers across the chest [Britannica 2024]. A patch of bare pink skin above the eyes helps the bird shed heat in the warm African climate. The species is sometimes called the "jackass penguin" for its loud, donkey-like braying call used in social and breeding contexts [Britannica 2024].
Its diet is dominated by small pelagic fish, principally sardine (Sardinops sagax) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), which it pursues in fast underwater dives, supplemented by other small fish and squid when preferred prey is scarce [Sherley et al. 2020][SANBI 2024]. Birds typically forage within reach of their breeding colonies during the chick-rearing period, making them especially sensitive to local prey availability. African penguins are long-lived for a seabird, with individuals capable of surviving into their twenties in the wild, and they form long-term pair bonds, returning to the same colony to breed [Britannica 2024].
Habitat and Range
The African penguin is endemic to the cool, productive waters of the Benguela current system off southern Africa. It breeds at islands and a small number of mainland colonies along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa, spanning the Atlantic west coast and the south coast into the Eastern Cape [Sherley et al. 2020][SANBI 2024]. Its breeding colonies are clustered into regions separated by long stretches of coastline, with the majority of birds concentrated at a handful of key islands [Sherley et al. 2020].
Birds nest in burrows, under boulders, or in surface scrapes, historically excavating nests in guano deposits before large-scale guano harvesting removed that substrate at many sites [SANBI 2024]. The species forages at sea within reach of its colonies and does not undertake long migrations, so the productivity of nearby coastal waters directly governs breeding success [Sherley et al. 2020].
Conservation Status
The African penguin is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, assessed in 2024 [IUCN 2024]. It had previously been listed as Endangered since 2010, and the continued, unreversed decline drove the uplisting [Mongabay 2024][BirdLife 2024].
According to the 2024 assessment, the breeding population declined by roughly 77.8% over three generations (about 30 years), from approximately 44,300 breeding pairs in 1993 to about 9,900 pairs in 2023 [IUCN 2024][BirdLife 2024]. Recent figures place roughly 8,750 pairs in South Africa and about 1,200 pairs in Namibia, fewer than 20,000 mature individuals in a population that continues to decrease [BirdLife 2024][Mongabay 2024]. Peer-reviewed work likewise found the global population declined by almost 64% between 1989 and 2019, from about 51,500 to roughly 17,700 pairs [Sherley et al. 2020]. The species is additionally protected under South African law and is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) [SANBI 2024].
Threats
The primary documented driver of decline is a shortage of the small pelagic fish on which the penguins depend. Reduced availability of sardine and anchovy near breeding colonies, attributed in part to competition with commercial purse-seine fisheries and to shifts in fish distribution, has repeatedly been identified as the main pressure on the population over recent decades [Sherley et al. 2020][SANCCOB 2024][SANBI 2024]. Penguins arriving at rehabilitation centres are frequently underweight, consistent with food stress [SANCCOB 2024].
Additional threats include oil pollution from shipping and bunkering operations, which can rapidly affect large numbers of birds; habitat alteration from historical guano harvesting that removed nesting substrate and exposed nests to predators and heat; predation at colonies; disturbance; disease; and the effects of climate change on the Benguela ecosystem [Sherley et al. 2020][SANBI 2024]. No-take fishing zones around key colonies have been cited as inadequate to sufficiently protect important feeding areas [SANCCOB 2024].
What Is Being Done
The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) operates long-running seabird rescue, rehabilitation, and release programmes, including treating oiled and injured birds and hand-rearing abandoned chicks for release back into wild colonies [SANCCOB 2024]. Conservation organisations and researchers have pursued the establishment and improvement of no-take fishing zones around the most important breeding colonies — six South African colonies are reported to hold roughly 76% of the global population — to reduce competition for prey [SANCCOB 2024]. In 2024, SANCCOB and BirdLife South Africa instituted legal proceedings in South Africa challenging the design of island fishing closures and seeking better-targeted restrictions around key colonies [SANCCOB 2024]. BirdLife International, BirdLife South Africa, SANBI, and partner agencies coordinate population monitoring, colony protection, and advocacy for ecosystem-based fisheries management across the species' range [BirdLife 2024][SANBI 2024].
How You Can Help
The most effective public support is directed through established, science-based organisations. Supporting groups such as SANCCOB and BirdLife South Africa, which run rehabilitation, monitoring, and policy programmes, channels help to where it is documented to make a difference [SANCCOB 2024][BirdLife 2024]. Members of the public can contribute by reporting oiled, injured, or stranded penguins to local wildlife authorities and rehabilitation centres rather than handling birds themselves, and by participating in legitimate citizen-science monitoring efforts. Informed advocacy for ecosystem-based fisheries management and for adequately sized no-take zones around breeding colonies addresses the root cause of the decline [SANCCOB 2024][Sherley et al. 2020]. Responsible, low-disturbance visits to managed colonies can further support local conservation while raising public awareness.
References
[Britannica 2024] Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). African penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/African-penguin
[IUCN 2024] BirdLife International. (2024). Spheniscus demersus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697810/229546942
[BirdLife 2024] BirdLife International. (2024). African Penguin on the Brink of Extinction. BirdLife International News. https://www.birdlife.org/news/2024/11/20/african-penguin-on-the-brink-of-extinction/
[Mongabay 2024] Mongabay. (2024). Population crash means African penguins are now critically endangered. Mongabay News. https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2024/11/population-crash-means-african-penguins-are-now-critically-endangered/
[SANCCOB 2024] Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. (2024). African Penguin newly classified as 'critically endangered' as breeding pairs fall below 10,000. SANCCOB. https://sanccob.co.za/news/african-penguin-newly-classified-as-critically-endangered-as-breeding-pairs-fall-below-10000/
[SANBI 2024] South African National Biodiversity Institute. (2024). African penguin. SANBI Animal of the Week. https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/african-penguin/
[Sherley et al. 2020] Sherley, R.B., Crawford, R.J.M., Dyer, B.M., et al. (2020). The conservation status and population decline of the African penguin deconstructed in space and time. Ecology and Evolution. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7417240/