| Background Information |
African penguins are also known as jackass penguins and Blackfooted penguins. It's entirely approriate to call them any of these, but African and jackass are more common. Based on phylogeny and appearance, one could tell these penguins are members of the Spheniscus genus, along with the Humboldt, Magellanic and Galapagos penguins.
The general external figures for the African penguin are greater than its closest relatives. Generally, they stand over 18 inches high and weigh around 7.5 pounds. They are average-sized penguins, but they are the largest of Spheniscus.
African penguin ecology is interesting. African penguins, as their name implies, are completely decoupled from the rest of the penguin populations. They extend from South Africa through Namibia and breed in the same areas, basically. Their diets consist mainly of fish and crustaceans. They are preyed upon by the Dominican gull (eggs, chicks), Sacred Ibis (eggs, chicks), skua (eggs, chicks) and sharks.
The principal predator of African penguins is man. Due to oil spills and loss of habitat, their numbers have dwindled to about 180,000 pairs (probably less), which qualifies them as vunerable species.
| Author Bernard Stonehouse |
"Blackfooted penguins Spheniscus demersus breed on islands off the southern ans southwestern coasts of southern Africa, as far north as Walvis Bay. They normally wear the single black and white throat bars of the Peruvian penguin, but have a much broader white band on the cheeks and are slightly smaller. They breed on bare ground, usually digging in under rocks or shale, or seeking shelter under sparse vegetation. This species, though seriously threatened by oil escaping from tankers which ply to and from the Cape, and known to have suffered serious reduction in numbers during the last three decades, remains one of the least studied of all penguins. Little observation of its breeding biology has been recorded since Kearton's (1930) popular account."
| African penguin multimedia |
- A pair of captive African penguins swimming about - Thomas Lamarre
- African penguins tend to cluster into colonies
- Another colony of African penguins
- A group of African penguins standing around
- A pair of captive African penguins standing on the shore - Thomas Lamarre
African penguin fact sheet. (PDF, 111k)
