CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – They’re cute, knee-high, they bray like donkeys and are a tourist attraction near Cape Town. But African Penguins – the continent’s only species of the flightless bird – are at risk of extinction.
As shoals of anchovies and sardines have migrated south into cooler waters, the population of African Penguins that feeds on the fish has plummeted by 90 percent since 2004 along South Africa’s west coast, once the stronghold of Africa’s only penguin species.
This decline, recorded by South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, led to four key fishing grounds being declared off limits seven years ago in an experiment to see if the measure could help save the penguins. But scientists are still debating whether fishing has helped push the species to the brink of extinction.
The debate has gotten so acrimonious that the Island Closures Task Team, which oversaw the experiment and determined management actions, disbanded last year. Meanwhile, the fishing bans remain in place.
If effective management of the situation is not carried out, the black-and-white seabirds could soon disappear, experts say.