CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/FILE
African black-footed penguins are among the Pueblo Zoo's most popular attractions.
By ABBIE KRAUSE
Published: May 3, 2015
Once upon a time, there was an African black-footed penguin named Tess that lived at the Pueblo Zoo.
Many Puebloans knew that Tess was a very
special penguin, for at the time of her death, she was 40 years (and 8
months) old, making her the oldest known living African black-footed
penguin in captivity and the oldest female on record. In the wild, the
average life expectancy of African penguins is 15-20 years.
Tess was very well adjusted to her
surroundings and colony and received excellent care, which may have
contributed to her exceptionally long life. Perhaps more importantly,
Tess and the zoo’s entire penguin colony are great ambassadors for their
species, giving guests a chance to connect with these amazing birds and
learn more about their wild counterparts.
However, the future of the African
black-footed penguin population is not looking like a fairy tale with a
happy ending. Native to waters along the southern African coastline, the
penguins are classified as endangered by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and is threatened by a number of factors,
including overfishing of food sources, shifts in the fish-rich currents
they rely on, habitat destruction and commercial oil spills and dumping.
Many of the penguins’ food sources, such as
anchovies, are severely depleted through overfishing, shifting travel
patterns or oil spills. The distance they need to swim to find fish, as
well as severe competition and threat from predators such as Cape fur
seals and sharks, present great challenges to the penguins’ feeding and
breeding. The population has also been undermined by people hunting
penguin eggs and collecting guano — needed for nest sites — for use as
fertilizer. An oil spill in 2000 threatened 40 percent of the wild
population.
During the last decade, the African penguin
population has declined by nearly 60 percent; the current estimated
population is a mere 10 percent of what it was 100 years ago. With this
sharp decline, the penguins are expected to be extinct in the wild
within 20 years.
One glimmer of hope is that Association of
Zoos and Aquarium institutions, like the Pueblo Zoo, have helped to
create a broad genetic base for the penguins in captivity, with the
capacity to maintain genetic diversity for the next 100 years. So,
reintroduction in the wild may be a possibility at some point in the
future, if needed.
This month, the zoo is set to launch its
Quarters for Conservation program to raise awareness about the
importance of conservation efforts in the wild and encourage the public
to join in to make a difference. The zoo plans to honor Tess through
supporting the conservation efforts of the Southern African Foundation
for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).
Visitors can learn more at two zoo events: Endangered Species Day on May 15 and Penguin Day on May 25.
For more information about Tess’s story and events, go to pueblozoo.org. For more on penguin conservation, go to sanccob.co.za.
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