Warning that African penguin is facing ‘functional extinction’
Bird conservationists have warned that if new interventions aren't introduced immediately, the continent will face the danger of losing its only penguin species.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has made a call for proposals on restricting fishing near African penguin breeding colonies.
The African penguin is one of 18 penguin species globally.
Most colonies are found along the coastlines of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
The SA Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds has welcomed the move to protect them.
Alistair McInnes, who's with Birdlife South Africa, says establishing fishing closures will help increase the survival rates of the seabirds.
“The population trends of the African penguins are closely related to the abundance of their prey at sea, and that is antribbian sardines. So when those stocks are low, their numbers are generally low as well.
“The way we assess their numbers, is we count how many breeding pairs there are in any given colony. So we have know for many years now there is a strong correlation between food availability and their numbers.”
Bird conservationist Lauren Waller says the African penguin is in crisis.
“It’s lost over 73% of its population in the last 30 years alone. If the current population trajectory is continued they could face functional extinction along the west coast of South Africa within 14 years.”
