The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as the Black-footed Penguin (and formerly as the Jackass Penguin), is found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with the largest colony on Dyer Island, near Kleinbaai. Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. The only other mainland colony is in Namibia, but it is not known when this was established. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (750x885, 84 KB) African Penguins at Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future. ... This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... This article is about penguin birds. ... This article is about penguin birds. ... Species Spheniscus demersus Spheniscus predemersus (fossil) Spheniscus mendiculus Spheniscus humboldti Spheniscus magellanicus The genus Spheniscus (wedge-shaped) contains four living species of penguins collectively known as the banded penguins, due to their similar coloration. ... Latin name redirects here. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 13, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Port Elizabeth is a city in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, at 33°58′ S 25°36′ E. The city is located on Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in South Africa. ... Gansbaai is located in the Overberg District (blue) of the Western Cape (dark gray) in South Africa (light gray). ... Modern genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics Some penguins are curious. ... Category: ... Simons Town Harbour, looking roughly to the south and showing the waters of False Bay Simons Town (also widely written Simonstown and, in Afrikaans, Simonstad), is a village and a naval base in South Africa, near Cape Town. ... Bettys Bay is a small town situated in the Overberg of South Africas Western Cape province. ... This page is about the animal. ...

Boulders Beach is a tourist attraction, for the beach, swimming and the penguins. The penguins will allow people to approach them as close as a meter (three ft).

The closest relatives of the African Penguins are the Humboldt and Magellanic penguins found in southern South America and the Galápagos Penguin found in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. Binomial name Meyen, 1834 The Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) or Patranca is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Peru and Chile. ... Binomial name Spheniscus magellanicus (Forster, 1781) The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Binomial name Sundevall, 1871 The Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) is a penguin endemic to the Galápagos Islands. ... World map showing the equator in red For other uses, see Equator (disambiguation). ...

Description

African Penguins grow to 68-70 cm (26.7-27.5 in) tall and weigh between 2 and 5 kilograms (4.4 and 11 lb). They have a black stripe and black spots on the chest, the pattern of spots being unique for every penguin, like human fingerprints. They have pink glands above their eyes. The hotter the penguin gets, the more blood is sent to these glands so it may be cooled by the surrounding air, thus making the glands more pink. The males are larger than the females and have larger beaks, but their beaks are more pointed than those of the Humboldt. Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage - white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water. The African Penguin is also known as the Jackass penguin because of its shrill mating call. A gland is an organ in an animals body that synthesizes a substance for release such as hormones, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). ... This article is about protective camouflage used to disguise people, animals, or military targets. ...

Behavior

They breed throughout the year, the main breeding season starting in February. Females lay two eggs, with an incubation period of 38-42 days. The breeding range of the African penguin extends from Hollamsbird Island, off central Namibia, to Bird Island in Algoa Bay. The African penguin is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa, and it is found nowhere else in the world. They are a monogamous species and the lifelong partners take turns to incubate their eggs and feed their young. The moulting season is between October and February, with the majority of the birds moulting in November and December, after which they head out to sea to feed (since they do not feed during moulting season and remain on land). They return in January to mate and begin nesting about February to August. Their diet includes small fish such as pilchards, sardines, anchovies small crustaceans and squid. The penguins obtain water from the fish they eat. Incubation period, also called the latent period or latency period, is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism, or chemical or radiation, and when symptoms and signs are first apparent. ... Faithfulness redirects here. ... The word incubate in the context of birds refers to the development of the chick (embryo) within the egg and the constant temperature required for the development of it over a specific period. ... In animals, moulting (Commonwealth English) or molting (American English) is the routine shedding off old feathers in birds, or of old skin in reptiles, or of old hairs in mammals (see also coat (dog)). In arthropods, such as insects, arachnids and crustaceans, moulting describes the shedding of its exoskeleton (which... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... Sardines or pilchards are a group of several types of small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. ... Sardines in the Pacific An open Sardines can Sardines on a plate grilled Sardines For the hide and seek-like game, see Hide and seek. ... Genera Amazonsprattus Anchoa Anchovia Anchoviella Cetengraulis Coilia Encrasicholina Engraulis Jurengraulis Lycengraulis Lycothrissa Papuengraulis Pterengraulis Setipinna Stolephorus Thryssa The anchovies are a family (Engraulidae) of small, common salt-water fish. ...

They can swim at an average speed of 7.5 km/h, and can stay submerged for up to 3 minutes.. They can reach a top speed of 20km/h.

African Penguins live in colonies and have an average lifespan of 10 years. They start mating between 2 and 6 years of age. Females reaching sexual maturity at the age of 4.2 years, and males at the age of 5 years. The highest recorded age for a bird of this species has been 24, however several individual birds have lived to be up to 40 years old in aquarium settings. The population in 2003 was estimated at 179,000 adults, with 56,000 breeding pairs.Their population has been decreasing in the past years. In the 1970’s there were an estimated 220,000 adults, 1980’s there was 194,000 adults and the population in the 1990’s was 179,000 adults.

The scientific name for the penguin is Spheniscus demersus. Because of their donkey-like braying call they were previously named the Jackass Penguins. Since several species of South American penguins produce the same sound, the African species has been renamed African Penguin, as it is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa. It is also named the Black-footed penguin. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Threats

African Penguins at the Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta.

Of the 1.5-million African Penguin population estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century. The uncontrolled harvesting of penguin eggs as a source of food, disruption of habitat by guano scraping, nearly drove the species to extinction. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1152x1536, 508 KB) Three african penguins, photo by User:Salimfadhley These penguins were observed on Boulder Beach near Cape Town, South Africa. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1152x1536, 508 KB) Three african penguins, photo by User:Salimfadhley These penguins were observed on Boulder Beach near Cape Town, South Africa. ... The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia at Pemberton Place, is billed as the worlds largest aquarium with more than 8 million US gallons (30,000 m³; 30,000,000 liters) of marine and fresh water, 1. ... Atlanta redirects here. ...

As recently as the mid-twentieth century, penguin eggs were considered a delicacy and were still being collected for sale. Unfortunately, the practice was to smash eggs found a few days prior to gathering, in order to ensure that only fresh ones were sold. This added to the drastic decline of the penguin population around the Cape coast, a decline which was hastened by the removal of guano from islands for use as fertilizer, eliminating the burrowing material used by penguins. Penguins remain susceptible to pollution of their habitat by petrochemicals from spills, shipwrecks and cleaning of tankers while at sea. A petrochemical is any chemical derived from fossil fuel. ...

Disaster struck on June 23, 2000, when the iron ore tanker MV Treasure sank between Robben Island and Dassen Island, South Africa, oiling 19 000 adult penguins at the height of the best breeding season on record for this vulnerable species. The oiled birds were brought to an abandoned train repair warehouse in Cape Town to be cared for. An additional 19,500 un-oiled penguins were removed from Dassen Island and other areas before they became oiled, and were released about a thousand kilometres east of Cape Town, near Port Elizabeth. This gave workers enough time to clean up the oiled waters and shores before the birds could complete their long swim home (which took the penguins between 2 and 3 weeks). Some of the penguins were named and radio-tracked as they swam back to their breeding grounds. Tens of thousands of volunteers descended upon Cape Town to help with the rescue and rehabilitation process, which was overseen by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), and took more than three months to complete. Although this was the largest animal rescue event in history, more than 91% of the penguins were successfully rehabilitated and released - an amazing feat that could not have been accomplished without such a tremendous international response. Robben Island (Afrikaans Robben Eiland) is an island in Table Bay, 12 km off the coast from Cape Town, South Africa and is located at . ... Dassen Island is situated about 10km west of Yzerfontein and 55km north of Cape Town. ... Nickname: Motto: Spes Bona (Latin for Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Coordinates: , Country Province Municipality City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality Founded 1652 Government [1]  - Type City council  - Mayor Helen Zille  - City manager Achmat Ebrahim Area  - Total 2,499 km² (964. ... The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is a global, not-for-profit, animal protection organization that was founded in Canada in 1969 with the goal of ending the commercial hunt of harp and hooded seals on the East Coast. ... The South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is a non-profit sea bird rehabilitation centre based in Cape Town, South Africa. ...

The African Penguin is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The African Penguin is listed in the Red Data Book... The AEWA - The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds - is an independent international treaty developed under the auspices of the UNEP/Convention on Migratory Species. ...

Their predators in the ocean include sharks, Cape fur seals and, on occasion, killer whales (Orca). Land-based enemies include mongoose, genet, domestic cats and dogs - and the Kelp Gulls which steal their eggs and new born chicks. For other uses, see Shark (disambiguation). ... Binomial name (Schreber, 1775) Distribution of the Cape Fur Seal, dark blue: breeding colonies; light blue: non-breeding individuals The Cape Fur Seal (also known as the South African Fur Seal and the Australian Fur Seal) is a species of fur seal. ... Binomial name Orcinus orca Linnaeus, 1758 Orca range (in blue) The orca (Orcinus orca), commonly known as the killer whale, and sometimes called the grampus, is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. ... Binomial name Orcinus orca Linnaeus, 1758 Orca range (in blue) The Orca or Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) is the largest species of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). ... For other uses, see Mongoose (disambiguation). ... Genera Genetta Osbornictis Genets are Old World carnivores of the family Viverridae, related to civets and linsangs. ... Binomial name Larus dominicanus (Lichtenstein, 1823) The Kelp Gull, Larus dominicanus, breeds on coasts and islands through much of the southern hemisphere. ...

References

• BirdLife International (2005). Spheniscus demersus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 Feb 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• www.pinguins.info About all species of penguins
• ARKive there are African penguins - Images and movies of the African penguin
• African Penguins from the International Penguin Conservation Web Site
• African Penguins - Avian Demography Unit at the University of Cape Town
• Stony Point penguin colony
• African penguins on the SANCCOB conservation website
• African Penguin images