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African Penguins
 | African (Black-footed) Penguins (Spheniscus demersus)
Geographical Occurrence and Population
African penguins are one of four penguin species of the genus Spheniscus which all resemble each other quite closely. The others are Humboldt penguins, Magellanic penguins and Galapagos penguins. The Spheniscus penguins are easily distinguished from the other species by the separated black bands running either side of the stomach via the neck. The Magellanic and Galapagos penguins are distinguished from the other two by an extra black band under the chin. The Magellanics are distinguished from the Galapagos because they are larger and the black band round the stomach is wider on the Magellanics. Also the Galapagos penguins only breed on the Galapagos Islands.
They were first described in Vasco da Gama’s expedition of 1497.
The Spheniscus penguins have a very wide range being seen at the Equator at the Galapagos Islands, in South America, the Falklands Islands, sub-Antarctic South Georgia, and on islands and coasts of South, South West and East Africa.
The African penguin is also known as the South African penguin, Black-footed penguin, Cape Penguin or Jackass penguin (because its call really does sound like a donkey’s bray). It breeds in colonies on the South and South West coasts of the African Continent and around the Cape.
From a population of 1.2 million in 1930 they have declined to about 120,000 in 2000. They are considered a threatened species.
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African Penguins -Physical Characteristics
 | Physical Characteristics
They are 18-27 inches tall and weigh about 7-10 lb. They have featherless pink patches round the eyes. They have dark grey feet and black bills. The chicks are grey with grey-black bills.
They spend most of their lives at sea, around 9 months, only return to land to breed or moult.
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African Penguins - Breeding
 | Breeding
African penguins like to breed in burrows (like northern hemisphere puffins) and will return to their old burrows each year when they spring clean and clean them out. They will also breed under rocks or under bushes.
They breed twice a year in February and September and the female usually lays 2 greenish eggs. (Three have been reported by some authorities 1973 National geographic). Eggs are incubated for about 40 days, chicks hatch in March/October and fledging takes around 90 days
Like other penguins both parents incubate and feed the chicks taking turns, one caring for the chicks while the other forages for food.
The penguin in the middle at the top of the pictureis a zoo bred penguin which has not yet acquired its adult plumage.
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African Penguins - Diet
 | The white stripes near this bird are penguin poo: the penguin lifts up its rear end and ejects a stream of poo. If the predominant diet is krill the “guano” will be pink. In this case the penguins were fed on white fish hence the white colour.
Diet
They eat fish, krill and other crustaceans, sardines, pilchards, anchovies and squid. They eat 20-25% of their body weight each day (about 1lb). They have a special membrane that protects their eyes while underwater like swimming goggles. Like other penguins they have heavy solid bones that act like divers weights to help them swim underwater. (unlike air flying birds which have hollow bones for lightness. They shallow dive 20 seconds at a time and can swim at 8km/hr but have been known to swim at speeds up to 20mph. They forage for food in shallow coastal waters at shallow depths compared with some other penguins which are deeper swimmers but have been seen up to 60 miles from land. This may be because food shortage drives them further to seek food.
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African Penguins - Threats
 | This zoo penguin has few threats. Penguins live up to about 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in good zoos.
Threats
Threats are habitat loss eg guano loss, loss of habitat due to human encroachment on breeding sites, food shortage due to over fishing by humans, killing by feral cats, egg taking by humans and other predators, oil pollution, fur seals, sharks and orcas. They are also preyed upon on land by skuas, gulls and ibis. Tens of thousands have been killed by oil spills. This is cleaned off by gently patting powdered clay into the oiled parts, leaving it for 2 hours then washing it away, this procedure being repeated over many days.
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Adapting to exist
 | In 1982-4 there was an invasion of penguins on Boulders Beach near Cape Town where there had been no penguins. In 20 years there were 3000 living and breeding there. Not a phenomenal growth compared with human population explosions. Before this they had not bred on the mainland only on offshore islands. These penguins used to breed by digging burrows in the guano (bird poo) but after the guano was removed for commercial gain and 10 metres deep was shipped away their habitat was lost. After this they had to make do with old penguin bones to make their nests. It is thought that after the guano was removed some of them sought new habitat and Boulders Beach was one of the results. With the loss of habitat and the need to find new nest sites the penguins now nest in parks and on the beach and in bushes near homes. Dassen Island is one of the biggest colonies. In some areas commercial fishing has been banned which is a step forward.
They also breed in Namibia in South West Africa near Luderitz on the Skeleton Coast near Halifax. When the guano was removed from this area the population crashed, they had to breed in the open and they became more exposed to the Sun and predators. The population here is going down by 6% per annum due to habitat (guano) loss, oil spills and human over fishing. However some help is being given by providing them with plastic dust bins to breed in and they seem to be doing better in these. There is also a rescue organization here which cleans them up after oil spills.
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Penguin modes of travel
 | Penguin modes of travel
Penguins have 6 main ways of travelling around. These are: waddling on land; hopping, as do the rock-hoppers; tobogganing on their tummies, common with the emperor penguins when moving through snow and ice when they push from the back with their feet and from the sides with their flippers; high speed “flying” underwater; porpoising by shooting in and out of the sea while speeding through the sea and as in the picture above by floating and swimming on the sea like ducks.
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Captive breeding of african penguins
 | Penguins breeding in captivity
Penguins have been pretty successful in breeding in captivity. This includes African penguins and at one zoo I visited I was told they bred at any time, which is interesting considering the strict regime they are accustomed to in the wild. In the picture above, the penguin on the left is a captive bred juvenile having not yet acquired the stripes of the adult plumage.
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Captive feeding of African penguins
 | Captive feeding of African penguins
At one zoo I visited the penguins were fed by throwing dead sprats into their pool at feeding time. These all looked happy healthy as they eagerly awaited their meal. Penguins always eat their fish krill etc by swallowing them head first and one penguin was having quite a struggle trying again and again till it turned the fish into the head first position.
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African penguin preening
 | Africa penguin preening
A family group with a juvenile not yet with its adult plumage and hence mostly dark for camouflage. Two of the adults are preening – taking oil from the oil gland near their tails and spreading it through their feathers to make them waterproof.
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