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This week, we’re shining the light on some adorable feathered friends for African Penguin Awareness Day (12 October 2019). African Penguins are only found on the coastlines of Southern Africa, a large population of which can be found at Boulders Beach – one of South Africa’s must visit locations near Cape Town, and the only place in the world where you can get close to the penguins.

Classified as endangered, the African Penguin is undergoing a rapid population decline due to commercial fisheries, food shortages and environmental change. According to the ICUN, if we don’t take action the population will continue to decline at an alarming rate. Now, it is estimated there is only a heartbreaking 50,000 individuals left in the wild.

Conservation initiatives have had a positive impact on the African Penguin population, with the colonies continuing to grow.

By visiting Boulders Beach you are helping ensure their survival. The small entry fee helps boost conservation efforts through South African National Parks (SANParks). Nesting boxes have been introduced to provide a safe breeding environment and to help prevent the loss of chicks.

Other organisations doing important work to protect these precious creatures, include The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured abandoned and oiled seabirds – especially endangered species like the African Penguin. The Chick Bolstering Project, contributes to saving the African Penguins by hand rearing abandoned and weak chicks. This has been identified as an essential and successful component of bolstering the wild population. Since its inception, SANCCOB has releases more than 7,000 chicks back into the wild.

African Penguin Awareness Day aims to bring this beautiful species into the spotlight – because who wants to imagine a world without penguins.

To celebrate these special birds, here are ten of our favourite facts:

  1. African Penguins are also called jackass penguins….
  2. ….because, to attract a mate, both sexes utter a call similar to the braying of a donkey!
  3. There are approximately 2,000 – 3,000 penguins on Boulders Beach.
  4. They live in colonies on the coast and islands of southern Africa.
  5. African Penguins are an endangered species and sadly the population is continuing to decline.
  6. Their feathers are waterproof, and acts as camouflage. The white on their bellies makes them difficult to spot when a predator looks up and the black feathers on their backs hides them from predators above.
  7. African penguins can reach speeds of 12 mph (19 km/h) in the water, dive up to 400 feet and hold their breath for 2.5 minutes.
  8. African penguins mate for life and share parenting duties.
  9. They breed within their colonies and nest in burrows or under bushes and boulders and the eggs are laid in pairs.
  10. African Penguins are about 60cm tall and weigh up to 3.6kg.