WE TV
Boulders Beach, Cape Town, South Africa
Category - Africa
African penguins are one of 17 living species of penguin in the world. They grow to between 68-70cm tall and weigh between 2 and 5kg. They are the species of penguin that star in The Penguins of Madagascar – check them out!
With their funny walk and entertaining personalities, penguins have become unlikely Hollywood movie stars. They are pretty cool, but not all penguins come from frosty climates. African penguins, like the stars of The Penguins of Madagascar, live in South Africa.
* African penguins were once known as jackass penguins, because they make a braying noise like a donkey. Lots of penguins make a similar noise so their name was changed because they are the only species of penguin to live and breed in Africa. They don’t actually live in Madagascar, but they do live on 24 African islands between Namibia and South Africa.
* African penguins have a black stripe and unique pattern of black spots across their chest. These spots are like human thumb prints, no two are the same.
* Penguins hunt fish to survive. They eat shoal fish like anchovies, sardines, round herrings and also small squid and crustaceans like crab.
* African penguins are listed as a vulnerable species. Their natural predators include sharks, orca (killer) whales and cape fur seals. Their eggs are also under threat from gulls and land animals like mongoose, cats, dogs and even humans, who, until the mid-20th Century considered penguin eggs a delicacy.
* Both the male and female penguin help incubate their eggs, taking shifts of around two days each. The eggs will hatch after around 40 days.
* In June 2000 an iron ore tanker sank off the coast of South Africa, leaking oil into the ocean. More than 19,000 penguins were coated in oil. Luckily, thousands of helpful volunteers saved 91% of the animals. They were cleaned up and successfully rehabilitated as part of the biggest animal rescue event in history.
Win a once in a lifetime trip to Cape Town, South Africa to see the African Penguins that live on Boulders Beach. To find out how, go to the Win! section of the website.