A Decade Of Implementing The Biodiversity Management Plan - Successes, Failures & Lessons Learnt

African penguins by © Dan Callister/Penguins & Sharks

African penguins Spheniscus demersus are endemic to Southern Africa are at risk of going extinct in the wild within the next decade. Their population declined by 90 % during the 20th century and, after a short period of increase in the early 21st century, numbers decreased again from 2004 to their lowest levels ever recorded in each year since. In 2023, the global breeding populations of African penguins was just under 10,000 pairs, close to 90 % of them in South Africa. Past threats contributing to their decline in the 20th century include egg harvesting for consumption and guano harvesting, which disturbed and removed their nesting habitat. The collection of eggs ceased in 1968 and guano harvesting stopped in the 1970’s in South Africa. However, the legacy of removing guano still impacts the contemporary penguin population, due to the reduced availability of burrowing material for nesting penguins. Burrows are an adaptation of these birds to a hot climate, providing buffered temperatures and humidity in the nest, while sheltering the brood from predators, such as kelp gulls. The removal of guano forces the penguins to breed in open surface nests, making them vulnerable to over-heating, which can lead to the temporary (or permanent) abandonment of the brood and increase predation risk. Chicks from open nests are also vulnerable to hypothermia during cold rain events or storms, the frequency of which is likely to increase with ongoing human-induced climate change.

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