Africa's lone penguin species nears starvation amid urgent conservation push
TOI GLOBAL DESK | TOI GLOBAL | Feb 03, 2026, 22:57 IST
The African penguin species faces extinction because three factors, which include food shortages, climate change and human activities, create a dangerous situation. The African penguin needs permanent protection because conservationists predict its extinction from natural habitats will occur within the next forty years.
TL;DR
African penguins face critical endangerment because they suffer from starvation when fish populations decline and climate change and overfishing occur. The species faces extinction, but conservation organisations such as SANCCOB work to save it through rehabilitation methods and protected areas and changes to laws.
Morning light spreads across Betty’s Bay, where African penguins stand still on shore, backs warmed by the rising sun. Found nowhere else on Earth except southern Africa, these flightless birds thrive in mild ocean climates instead of frozen regions. Still, even with strong natural traits, existence grows harder each year. Their numbers shrink under pressure from shifting environments and food scarcity. Survival, once certain, now depends on conditions beyond their control.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature designated African penguins as critically endangered in 2024. The population has declined to fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs because natural habitats lack adequate food resources. Research conducted together by South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment and the University of Exeter reveals over 60,000 individuals perished from hunger during the seven-year period ending in 2011. These losses occurred primarily on Robben Island and Dassen Island, locations once central to their reproduction.
Off Africa's southern shores, sardines and anchovies used to gather in vast numbers, tiny fish forming dense groups. Now, warmer seas linked to shifting global climates disrupt their survival patterns. Commercial harvests add pressure, removing large volumes year after year. For close to twenty years, certain areas show sardine amounts stuck near one-quarter of past averages. This steady drop points to an enduring decline, reshaping what penguins can find to eat.
The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds at SANCCOB establishes visible effects. This organisation has dedicated itself to seabird rescue operations since 1968. Jade Sookhoo leads rehabilitation programmes at this location as a key member of the organisation. She observes that numerous penguins brought in are both underweight and harmed. From her position leading conservation work, Robyn Fraser-Knowles provides context: a healthy adult usually reaches around 4 kilograms. Yet certain individuals taken into care tip the scales far below that mark.
At each phase of existence, hunger takes hold among penguins. Moving greater distances into open water, parents search for sustenance, meanwhile, nests sit empty. Stones appear where food should be; young ones ingest them, evidence later uncovered within dead chicks by scientists at SANCCOB. Moulting falters under poor nourishment, that yearly shift requiring stillness and energy drawn inward. Without stored body fat, survival through such fasting grows unlikely, according to observations made by Dr David Roberts, attending vet at the facility.
A worsening situation emerges when multiple dangers combine. Besides oil spills, plastic traps add pressure on fragile groups. Vessel movements disturb routines. Predators take advantage. Illnesses like bird flu strike too. The downturn of African penguins signals wider harm across ocean life, as noted by Fraser-Knowles. These birds serve as environmental markers. Their falling numbers reveal hidden shifts below the surface.
Yet improvements appear possible. During March of the previous year, efforts by conservationists alongside fisheries led to an agreement: six key breeding sites in South Africa would become off-limits to harvesting for ten years. Fishing and extraction activities cease within these boundaries, allowing penguins easier access to meals close to nesting grounds. At the same time, SANCCOB returned over 10,000 recovered young birds into the wild via its chick support initiative while creating the first human-built safe haven for penguins at De Hoop Nature Reserve.
Survival of the species relies heavily on broader marine safeguards, alongside lower catch limits for small fish like sardines and anchovies, public backing must remain steady over time. Should such actions fail to take hold, specialists caution that this penguin, unique to African coasts, may disappear entirely within decades. One outcome hinges on choices made today.
African penguins face critical endangerment because they suffer from starvation when fish populations decline and climate change and overfishing occur. The species faces extinction, but conservation organisations such as SANCCOB work to save it through rehabilitation methods and protected areas and changes to laws.
Morning light spreads across Betty’s Bay, where African penguins stand still on shore, backs warmed by the rising sun. Found nowhere else on Earth except southern Africa, these flightless birds thrive in mild ocean climates instead of frozen regions. Still, even with strong natural traits, existence grows harder each year. Their numbers shrink under pressure from shifting environments and food scarcity. Survival, once certain, now depends on conditions beyond their control.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature designated African penguins as critically endangered in 2024. The population has declined to fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs because natural habitats lack adequate food resources. Research conducted together by South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment and the University of Exeter reveals over 60,000 individuals perished from hunger during the seven-year period ending in 2011. These losses occurred primarily on Robben Island and Dassen Island, locations once central to their reproduction.
Off Africa's southern shores, sardines and anchovies used to gather in vast numbers, tiny fish forming dense groups. Now, warmer seas linked to shifting global climates disrupt their survival patterns. Commercial harvests add pressure, removing large volumes year after year. For close to twenty years, certain areas show sardine amounts stuck near one-quarter of past averages. This steady drop points to an enduring decline, reshaping what penguins can find to eat.
The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds at SANCCOB establishes visible effects. This organisation has dedicated itself to seabird rescue operations since 1968. Jade Sookhoo leads rehabilitation programmes at this location as a key member of the organisation. She observes that numerous penguins brought in are both underweight and harmed. From her position leading conservation work, Robyn Fraser-Knowles provides context: a healthy adult usually reaches around 4 kilograms. Yet certain individuals taken into care tip the scales far below that mark.
At each phase of existence, hunger takes hold among penguins. Moving greater distances into open water, parents search for sustenance, meanwhile, nests sit empty. Stones appear where food should be; young ones ingest them, evidence later uncovered within dead chicks by scientists at SANCCOB. Moulting falters under poor nourishment, that yearly shift requiring stillness and energy drawn inward. Without stored body fat, survival through such fasting grows unlikely, according to observations made by Dr David Roberts, attending vet at the facility.
A worsening situation emerges when multiple dangers combine. Besides oil spills, plastic traps add pressure on fragile groups. Vessel movements disturb routines. Predators take advantage. Illnesses like bird flu strike too. The downturn of African penguins signals wider harm across ocean life, as noted by Fraser-Knowles. These birds serve as environmental markers. Their falling numbers reveal hidden shifts below the surface.
Yet improvements appear possible. During March of the previous year, efforts by conservationists alongside fisheries led to an agreement: six key breeding sites in South Africa would become off-limits to harvesting for ten years. Fishing and extraction activities cease within these boundaries, allowing penguins easier access to meals close to nesting grounds. At the same time, SANCCOB returned over 10,000 recovered young birds into the wild via its chick support initiative while creating the first human-built safe haven for penguins at De Hoop Nature Reserve.
Survival of the species relies heavily on broader marine safeguards, alongside lower catch limits for small fish like sardines and anchovies, public backing must remain steady over time. Should such actions fail to take hold, specialists caution that this penguin, unique to African coasts, may disappear entirely within decades. One outcome hinges on choices made today.