Why Are African Penguins Endangered? Causes of Decline

How fast has the African penguin declined?

The African penguin is the only penguin that breeds in Africa, along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia. Around 1910 its population was estimated at about 1.5 million birds. By 2000 it had fallen to roughly 150,000–180,000. The breeding population dropped to about 20,850 pairs in 2019 and to fewer than 10,000 pairs in 2023.

In October 2024 the IUCN Red List moved the species from Endangered to Critically Endangered, making it the first penguin to reach that category. Some scientists have warned that, at the recent rate of decline, the species could become functionally extinct in the wild as early as the mid-2030s.

Past threats: eggs and guano

For much of the 20th century, people collected African penguin eggs on a huge scale. The eggs were considered a delicacy and were sold in Cape Town and other towns. On islands such as Dassen, collectors gathered thousands of eggs a year, sometimes smashing older eggs first so that only fresh ones would be taken later. Egg collecting continued into the 1960s and on a smaller scale into the 1970s.

At the same time, the guano, or dried seabird droppings, that covered the breeding islands was scraped away and sold as fertilizer. Penguins had dug their burrows in this guano, which kept their eggs and chicks cool and hidden from gulls. Without it, many pairs were forced to nest in the open, where eggs overheat, chicks suffer in the sun and predators find nests more easily.

The main threat today: not enough fish

African penguins feed mostly on small schooling fish, especially sardines and anchovies. Since the 1990s, the main stocks of these fish off South Africa have shifted southeast, away from many of the large penguin colonies on the west coast. Commercial purse-seine fisheries, which catch the same fish for food, bait and fishmeal, add to the competition near colonies.

When fish are scarce, adults have to travel farther and spend longer at sea, chicks are fed less often, and many starve or are abandoned. Research published in 2017 found that young penguins leaving western colonies still head for areas that used to be rich in sardines but no longer are, a situation scientists call an ecological trap: a once-reliable cue now leads the birds to poor feeding grounds, and many die in their first year.

Experiments in which fishing was closed for several years around colonies such as Robben Island showed that chicks were fed better and survived more often. In March 2025 a court settlement in South Africa led to larger, long-term no-fishing zones around six key colonies, a step conservationists had long requested.

Oil spills and pollution

The waters around the Cape of Good Hope are one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, and penguins spend most of their lives at sea. Oil has harmed African penguins since at least the 1930s. In 1994 the sinking of the Apollo Sea oiled about 10,000 penguins, and in June 2000 the Treasure sank between Robben and Dassen islands, oiling about 19,000 adults during the breeding season.

Thanks to a huge volunteer effort led by SANCCOB and partners, more than 90% of the birds oiled in the Treasure spill were cleaned and released. Smaller, frequent spills remain a risk, including those linked to ship-to-ship fuel transfers in Algoa Bay, close to the once-important colony on St Croix Island.

Predators, heat and disease

With so few birds left, natural predators have a bigger impact. Cape fur seals catch penguins at sea and near some colonies; kelp gulls take eggs and chicks; and on the mainland, mongooses, genets, caracals and even leopards have attacked penguins. Domestic cats and dogs are a danger at colonies near towns.

Heat waves can force parents to abandon eggs or chicks on exposed nests. Outbreaks of avian influenza and avian malaria have killed birds in some colonies and in rehabilitation centers. Climate change is expected to make heat stress and changes in fish distribution worse.

What is being done to save African penguins?

A wide range of conservation measures is now in place:

• Fishing closures around important breeding islands to leave more fish for penguins;
• Artificial nest boxes and shaded nests that replace lost guano burrows, improving breeding success;
• Rescue and rehabilitation of oiled birds and hand-rearing of abandoned chicks, mainly by SANCCOB in Cape Town;
• New colonies, such as an effort at De Hoop Nature Reserve to attract penguins closer to the fish using decoys and recorded calls;
• Predator management at some colonies and better oil spill preparedness.

Zoos and aquariums in Europe and North America keep coordinated breeding populations as a safeguard and fund work in the wild. Penguins are under pressure elsewhere too; compare the situation of the Antarctic species in are emperor penguins endangered?, or see more species at risk in endangered animals.