Four African Penguins on a rock at Boulders Beach, SA
Credits:
Christoph Michels/Wikimedia commons
Biodiversity Management Plan was published in the Government Gazette by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs on Aug. 20, 2012 for public comments, reports the Environmental Affairs department of the Republic of South Africa. The public may submit comments in writing within 30 days of the publication notice in Gazette No. 35607.
The African Penguin is native to Southern Africa and is the only penguin that breeds in Africa. Its population has decreased dramatically since the 1920s and is now considered an endangered species.
In the 1920s there were around 1 million pairs of African Penguins. By 2009 there were only 25,000 pairs recorded. The current population is only 2.5 percent of its level 80 years ago and is still declining.
It is believed that the decline from the 1920s to the 1950s was probably from the penguins’ eggs being harvested for human consumption. Another contributor to the decline was that large amounts of guano were removed from the seabird islands. The African Penguin normally burrows into the guano so that their nests would be safe and protected. With the guano removed they were forced to nest on the unsafe surface.
Other factors that have contributed to the population decline are large oil spoils and predation by Cape fur seals. African Penguins prey on shoaling pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovies, the same fish that purse-seine fisheries compete for.
The African Penguin may become extinct if “drastic conservation steps are not immediately implemented.”
source
The African Penguin is native to Southern Africa and is the only penguin that breeds in Africa. Its population has decreased dramatically since the 1920s and is now considered an endangered species.
In the 1920s there were around 1 million pairs of African Penguins. By 2009 there were only 25,000 pairs recorded. The current population is only 2.5 percent of its level 80 years ago and is still declining.
It is believed that the decline from the 1920s to the 1950s was probably from the penguins’ eggs being harvested for human consumption. Another contributor to the decline was that large amounts of guano were removed from the seabird islands. The African Penguin normally burrows into the guano so that their nests would be safe and protected. With the guano removed they were forced to nest on the unsafe surface.
Other factors that have contributed to the population decline are large oil spoils and predation by Cape fur seals. African Penguins prey on shoaling pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovies, the same fish that purse-seine fisheries compete for.
The African Penguin may become extinct if “drastic conservation steps are not immediately implemented.”
source
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