The Fight To Save The African Penguin

The Plight of the African penguin © Dan Callister

The African penguin – native to South Africa and Namibia - has lost 99% of its population over the last century.

“If the current rates of decline persist into the near future we could see the extinction of the species within our lifetime by 2035, so the situation is extremely urgent,” Dr McInnes warns.

This is why BirdLife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) are taking legal action against the government in the first case of its kind in South Africa.

Ministers have failed to adequately protect the endangered species, they argue. “We cannot let a species go extinct on our watch,” says Kate Handley from the Biodiversity Law Centre, which represents the groups. She adds that the government is constitutionally obliged to prevent such a scenario.

The sardine and anchovy populations, which the penguins rely on, are in decline. Almost all the surviving African penguins live in seven colonies along Africa’s south-western coastline. It is estimated that there are now just 8,750 breeding pairs left in the country. Climate change is exacerbating the problem - storms and flooding endanger their colonies and it is becoming harder for the birds to access food as ocean currents and temperatures shift. The sardines and anchovies on which the penguins depend are also a valuable commodity for the commercial fishing industry. The South African government has tried to restrict the activities of purse seine fishing vessels, which use large nets to catch great shoals of fish. It is a volatile issue. Over the last 15 years there have been experimental closures of fishing grounds, protracted negotiations between the fishing industry and conservationists and input from an independent panel of international experts. But penguin numbers are still declining. BirdLife South Africa and Sanccob argue that current closures – under which fishing is prohibited around some colonies – are neither extensive enough nor in the right locations to fully protect the penguin population. Their lawyers are demanding the immediate implementation of “biologically meaningful” closures.

If we can’t save a charismatic indicator species like the African penguin, then there is little chance of saving ourselves.

Please visit SANCCOB to learn more

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