African Penguin Awareness Day: They could be extinct by 2035
Various conservation institutions have established the #Not On Our Watch (#NOOW) public movement to raise awareness of the plight of these endangered seabirds and increase public action.
African penguins, photographed here in Simon’s Town, could be extinct as soon as 2035, according to BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds). Picture: Dan Callister/GroundUp
Today (12 October 2024) is African Penguin Awareness Day.
Various conservation institutions have established the #Not On Our Watch (#NOOW) public movement to raise awareness of the plight of these endangered seabirds and increase public action.
These flightless aquatic birds are said to have lost 97% of their population over the last 100 years.
The main threat to African penguins is the lack of food as there is direct competition between these birds and commercial fisheries.
There are reportedly only 8,300 breeding pairs left in the wild in South Africa.
It's estimated that these ambassadors of the ocean could face extinction by 2035.