As the African Penguin population has declined by 99% in the past 120 years, more conservation efforts have been implemented to ensure the species’ survival.
In addition, scientists have predicted that the extinction of the African Penguin population could be a reality by 2035 if urgent action isn’t taken.
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Birdlife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) have previously taken the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to court for failing to implement ‘meaningful closures’.
This includes seine fishing around penguin colonies that were not restricted, which is ‘promoting the decline in penguin populations’ as the birds face an increasing struggle to find food, according to Birdlife South Africa and the SANCCOB.
‘The main issue is their food supply and other threats at sea, which people don’t see,’ said Alistair McInnes, Seabird Conservation Programme manager for BirdLife South Africa.
‘When people visit colonies at Stony Point or Boulders, they don’t understand what’s affecting the penguin populations,’ McInnes added.
Scientists in the meantime have utilised different methods to better understand both the foraging habits and the effects of food shortages.
Advanced systems that collect real-time data on penguin foraging have been installed at four of the six at-risk penguin colonies that involve the use of weighbridges that monitor the condition of penguins in real-time.
This is usually ‘hard to measure’ and not visible to researchers and the public.
The weighbridge system tracks penguins as they cross it, which allows researchers to gather important data.
This information helps determine how food availability influences the condition of penguins and how this affects their breeding effort.
The project receives funding from Massmart, ‘Saving Animals from Extinction’ and the Charl van der Merwe Trust.
‘The rapid decline of the African Penguin population has prompted us to take a stronger position on providing support to researchers to aid in improving the conditions for the penguins to thrive,’ said Viratha Hariram, Senior Environmental Sustainability Manager at Massmart.
‘We are hopeful that the weighbridge system project and interactive website will help create greater awareness about this issue,’ Hariram added.
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Picture: Supplied