The African penguin is only found on the south-western coast of Africa, living in colonies on 24 islands between Namibia and Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa . It is the only penguin species that breeds in Africa, and its presence gave name to the Penguin Islands .
The most common answer is: the African penguin, also known as jackass penguins due to its bray resembling that of a donkey’s, lives only in Africa’s southern shores, from Namibia to South Africa. The penguins’ population has rapidly decreased by more than 60% since the early 1980s. There are now about 50,000 individuals, and they are considered Endangered.
Predator control programs have helped them adapt to a warm climate. The nickname for African Penguins is Jackass and black-footed penguins as it relates to the noise that they make which sound like braying. The African Penguin is reserved to the south-western coast of Africa. These penguins actively feed on squid and fish found in the water.
Where do penguins live?
There are 29 known colonies of this species of penguin. The ones with higher populations are on Saint Croix Island, Dassen Island, Robben Island, Boulders Beach and Mercury Islands. Its distribution covers Namibia and South Africa.
You might be thinking “Do penguins live on land or sea?”
They spend roughly half of their lives on land and the other half in the sea. Although almost all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin live so far south .
What is an African penguin?
The African penguin ( Spheniscus demersus ), also known as the Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat.
Flightless aquatic bird. Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group of aquatic, flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, with only one species, the Galapagos penguin, found north of the equator.
Do penguins exist?
Penguins are cold -adapted, flightless birds, famous for living in the frigid tundra of Antarctica. But of the 18 penguin species in the world, only two actually live on the southernmost continent. Penguins live on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere, from Australia to Africa.
This of course begs the query “How long have Penguins been around?”
The evolution of modern penguins took place over the course of approximately 3 million years. One of the descendants of the basal Penguin, named by scientists as “Penguin One,” is the ancestor of all penguins that now exist in the world, and it lived some 34.2-47.6 million years ago.
One of the next things we wondered was how many different types of penguins are there?
There are currently 18 recognized species of penguins around the world, as determined by various agencies, scientists and experts in the field. Penguins live in many locations around the Southern Hemisphere.