African Penguin Awareness Day

Penguins are a barometer of the effects of human activity on the poles, according to scientists from institutions around the world. Raising awareness about them, therefore, is seen by many as a way to communicate with people about the impending dangers of climate change.

African Penguin Awareness Day is celebrated worldwide each year with the aim of raising awareness around the plight of African penguins and their rapid decline in numbers. African penguins are the only penguin species found on the African continent. In the last century, their numbers have declined dramatically and current estimates suggest that there are only between 60 000 and 70 000 individual birds left in the wild - this, when their population numbers were in the millions at the turn of the 20th century. With less than 20 000 breeding pairs currently left, scientists estimate that if their numbers continue to decline at the current rate, these charismatic and endemic birds will be functionally extinct in the wild within 15 to 20 years.