Why did the penguin cross the road? Because it’s safe - at least in Simon’s Town.
Pedestrian crossings in the town‚ which has its own African penguin breeding colony‚ have been painted with waddling penguins to draw attention its most popular residents.
Summer is the season of the endangered penguin. On Saturday‚ October 27‚ hand-reared and rescued penguins will be released back into the wild at the Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Bay‚ about 100km east of Cape Town.
And on November 10 the annual Penguin Festival will be held in Simon’s Town to raise to raise awareness about the birds. It’s hosted by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).
The African Penguin population has plummeted in the last century‚ dropping to two percent of its original size‚ SANCCOB reports.
Breeding pairs of African penguins – the only penguin species endemic to Africa - have declined from more than a million a century ago to 26‚000‚ says oceans advocate Lewis Pugh.
Organisations such as SANCCOB play a critical role in rehabilitating ill and injured penguins‚ rescued penguins harmed by oil spills‚ and in rearing hatched penguins to be freed to breed in wild colonies.
Penguins released in 2013 and 2014‚ tracked with transponders‚ are breeding at about a similar age to their always-wild cousins at Stony Point‚ Boulders in Simon’s Town and on Robben Island‚ said SANCCOB’s research manager‚ Katta Ludynia.
On Saturday‚ the organisation holds the third Penguin Palooza at the Stony Point Nature Reserve with CapeNature‚ the conservation authority in the Western Cape‚ to raise awareness about the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) and marine conservation.
Penguins rehabilitated and reared by the SANCCOB will be tipped out of boxes‚ in which they travelled from SANCCOB’s Table View centre. A penguin movie screening and community market‚ with activities and prizes‚ will follow their release.
Dr Razeena Omar‚ CapeNature CEO‚ said: “This (Stony Point) penguin colony is of national‚ as well as international‚ conservation significance for the African penguin species as it currently supports more breeding pairs than the three coastal islands in the Western Cape combined‚ namely; Dassen‚ Dyer and Robben Islands.
“These three islands were traditional ‘strongholds’ of African penguins and other breeding seabirds.”
The number of breeding pairs at Dyer Island dropped from 22‚655 breeding pairs in 1979 to under 1‚500 breeding pairs by 2013‚ one study showed.
Omar said: Stony Point is the only colony that has shown an increase in the number of African penguins in the last decade.”
Join happy feet at Betty’s Bay Penguin Palooza
Image: Supplied
Why did the penguin cross the road? Because it’s safe - at least in Simon’s Town.
Pedestrian crossings in the town‚ which has its own African penguin breeding colony‚ have been painted with waddling penguins to draw attention its most popular residents.
Summer is the season of the endangered penguin. On Saturday‚ October 27‚ hand-reared and rescued penguins will be released back into the wild at the Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Bay‚ about 100km east of Cape Town.
And on November 10 the annual Penguin Festival will be held in Simon’s Town to raise to raise awareness about the birds. It’s hosted by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).
The African Penguin population has plummeted in the last century‚ dropping to two percent of its original size‚ SANCCOB reports.
Breeding pairs of African penguins – the only penguin species endemic to Africa - have declined from more than a million a century ago to 26‚000‚ says oceans advocate Lewis Pugh.
Organisations such as SANCCOB play a critical role in rehabilitating ill and injured penguins‚ rescued penguins harmed by oil spills‚ and in rearing hatched penguins to be freed to breed in wild colonies.
Penguins released in 2013 and 2014‚ tracked with transponders‚ are breeding at about a similar age to their always-wild cousins at Stony Point‚ Boulders in Simon’s Town and on Robben Island‚ said SANCCOB’s research manager‚ Katta Ludynia.
On Saturday‚ the organisation holds the third Penguin Palooza at the Stony Point Nature Reserve with CapeNature‚ the conservation authority in the Western Cape‚ to raise awareness about the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) and marine conservation.
Penguins rehabilitated and reared by the SANCCOB will be tipped out of boxes‚ in which they travelled from SANCCOB’s Table View centre. A penguin movie screening and community market‚ with activities and prizes‚ will follow their release.
Dr Razeena Omar‚ CapeNature CEO‚ said: “This (Stony Point) penguin colony is of national‚ as well as international‚ conservation significance for the African penguin species as it currently supports more breeding pairs than the three coastal islands in the Western Cape combined‚ namely; Dassen‚ Dyer and Robben Islands.
“These three islands were traditional ‘strongholds’ of African penguins and other breeding seabirds.”
The number of breeding pairs at Dyer Island dropped from 22‚655 breeding pairs in 1979 to under 1‚500 breeding pairs by 2013‚ one study showed.
Omar said: Stony Point is the only colony that has shown an increase in the number of African penguins in the last decade.”
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