Are penguins found in Africa?
“I am currently doing a report on penguins. Upon researching my subject a friend of mine told me that there are actually penguins in Africa. I told him penguins only live in cold climates but he swears Africa has penguins. Is this true?”
–Casey of Cleveland, OH, U.S.A.
Penguins? In Africa? Yes-Africa.
Africa does, indeed, have penguins. Let’s travel now to the beautiful land of southern Africa where the African Penguin (Spheniscus Demersus) is a must-see, attention grabbing native.
African Penguin
The African Penguin (also known as the Black-Footed Penguin, and because of its braying vocalizations, the Jackass Penguin) stands approximately 28 inches in height and can weigh between 4-11 lbs. Besides its distinctive vocalizations, this penguin is most identified by the long, black stripe across its chest, which is also dotted with small black spots. Each pattern of spots is unique to each penguin, much like the stripes of a zebra or fingerprints for human beings.
As with the stripes of zebras on the savannas, the black and white coloring of the penguin acts as a camouflage in the water: when predators (namely sharks, seals and occasionally, orcas) in deep waters look upwards, they see the penguin’s white underbelly reflected against the bright African sun; for predators looking down into the dark water, they see the black backside.
Like many other African species, the African Penguin has also faced serious threats to its existence. Due to the harvesting of eggs for food and destruction of habitat, the African Penguin was almost on the brink of extinction. Currently, the African Penguin is listed as a Vulnerable Species.
Did you know…?
-The African Penguin can swim at a top speed of approximately 20 km/h (about 10 mi/h)
-When swimming, the African Penguin can stay submerged for up to two minutes
-The African Penguin is the only penguin species to breed in Africa and is not found anywhere else in the world.
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June 8th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Wait! Before You Go…
June 8th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Whoops! Didn’t mean to hit ‘Enter’ just yet…
Anyhoo, as we all know, Father’s Day is fast approaching (June 21st) and graduations at all levels are all around. If you have yet to buy a gift for your Dad or Grad-don’t sweat it! Swing on by the AWF online store (scroll to the top of the page and click on the ‘Shop’ header) for great gifts for your Dad or Grad.
If your Dad or Grad isn’t really the ‘gift’ type, you can honor them by stopping by our Adoption Center and adopting an African animal or an acre (or more!) of land in their honor.
Adoptin’ and Shoppin’- two great ways to help AWF protect the remaining African animals in the world while honoring those who mean the world to you.
June 13th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Hi Casey,
Just to add to your penguin project, did you know that you get penguins NORTH of the equator! It sounds odd – but the penguin I am talking about is the Galapagos penguin found on and around the Galapagos islands (which are on the equator). It is the most northerly naturally occurring penguin I know of. The cold Humbolt current keeps the seas cool there and make reasonable fishing grounds for the penguins. You also get peruvian penguins quite far north on the Chilean coas of South America too.