Collapse of South Africa's penguins in the early 21st century

Crawford, R. J. M.; Altwegg, Res; Barham, B A; Barham, PJ; Durant, Joël M.; Dyer, Bruce M.; Geldenhuys, Deon; Makhado, AB; Pichegru, Lorien; Ryan, Peter G.; Underhill, Les G.; Upfold, Leshia; Visagie, J; Waller, LJ; Whittington, Philip A.

doi:10.2989/1814232x.2011.572377

Cited by 148 publications

(197 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

194

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Research has shown that shortage of food is probably the factor driving the recent decline Crawford et al 2011b), but it is unclear as to what is causing this shortage. Other factors such as unnaturally high predation rates by seals on adult birds and by Kelp Gulls on eggs and chicks and continuous oiling of birds also play a role in the population decline and needs to be managed.…”

Section: Executive Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The African Penguin is endemic to the greater Benguela upwelling ecosystem off south-western Africa (Crawford et al 2011b). It breeds at 28 localities (Kemper et al 2007a) from Hollams Bird Island, central Namibia, to South Africa's Eastern Cape Province at Bird Island (Hockey et al 2005).…”

Section: Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It breeds at 28 localities (Kemper et al 2007a) from Hollams Bird Island, central Namibia, to South Africa's Eastern Cape Province at Bird Island (Hockey et al 2005). In South Africa, penguins breed in two groups of localities, one in the Western Cape Province and the other in the Eastern Cape Province, which are separated by c. 600 km (Crawford et al 2011b), the distances having been increased by extinctions of colonies at Lambert's Bay in 2006 (Crawford et al 2008) and Mossel Bay around 1926(Shelton et al 1984). …”

Section: Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the most important current threats to African Penguins is considered to be the abundance and availability of prey Crawford et al 2011b). In the Benguela Upwelling Ecosystem, changes in the relative abundance of sardine and anchovy have been linked to changes in diet, breeding population size and breeding success of various seabird populations, including Cape Gannet Morus capensis, African Penguin, Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis, and Swift Terns Sterna bergii populations (Crawford and Dyer 1995;Crawford 2003;Crawford et al 2006a;2007;Underhill et al 2006).…”

Section: Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Prognostic Indicators of Rehabilitation Outcomes for Adult African Penguins (Spheniscus Demersus)

Parsons¹,

Vanstreels

Schaefer

2018

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Executive Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Prognostic Indicators of Rehabilitation Outcomes for Adult African Penguins (Spheniscus Demersus)

Parsons¹,

Vanstreels

Schaefer

2018

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Breeding habitats were reduced through guano collection, followed by egg collection for human consumption, overexploitation of prey species and, recently, oiling events caused by oil spills. 1 Furthermore, blood parasites such as Plasmodium, which causes avian malaria, are ongoing threats leading to further mortalities. 3,4 The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) maintains a seabird rehabilitation facility based at the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve in Tableview, Cape Town.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation implications of avian malaria exposure for African penguins during rehabilitation

Botes¹,

Thiart²,

Parsons³

et al. 2017

S. Afr. J. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is the only penguin species that breeds on the African continent and it is currently classified as endangered. Its conservation is assisted by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) which is a seabird rehabilitation facility based at the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve in Tableview, Cape Town. Despite the success of SANCCOB in rehabilitating diseased, injured or oiled penguins, significant mortalities have occurred at the facility as a result of avian malaria. Avian malaria can be contracted during rehabilitation during which penguins are inadvertently exposed to additional threats. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to assess the anti-Plasmodium antibody levels of penguins to avian malaria on entry into the SANCCOB facility from 2001 to 2004 and during their rehabilitation process. Using blood smear data, avian malaria prevalence and malaria-related deaths were also monitored from 2002 to 2013. Significant increases in anti-Plasmodium antibody levels after admission were found during summer months. New infection and not parasite recrudescence was concluded to be the cause of this increase. This source was confirmed by a dramatic drop in penguin mortalities upon exclusion of mosquito vectors in 2008. Mortalities did not depend on the birds’ abilities to produce an anti-Plasmodium antibody response and oiling had no influence on immunity or prevalence of avian malaria infections. This study highlights the importance of mosquito vector control to control pathogen exposure in wild bird rehabilitation centres.

show abstract

Decades of artificial nests towards African penguin conservation—Have they made a difference?

Pichegru,

Sherley,

Malan

et al. 2024

Ecol Sol and Evidence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

African penguins are among the most threatened seabird species globally and an African Penguin Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) published in 2013 guides conservation strategies to prevent their extinction. To counter the impact of past guano exploitation which reduced the nesting habitat of these burrowing seabirds, rendering them vulnerable to predators and extreme weather events, a suite of artificial nests was deployed in various colonies over the past decades with varying success. The BMP called for new nest designs to maximise breeding output. This study assesses African penguin breeding success over the past 14 years in four types of artificial nests and in natural nests at all major colonies in South Africa. Overall, artificial nests outperformed natural nests and successfully increased breeding output of African penguins by 16.5% (95% CI: 6.7–26.2). No design was, however, consistently most effective across locations. For example, fibreglass nests had the poorest hatching success of all nest types at one colony (Bird Island), but outperformed cement nests at another (Boulders Beach). The latest design of double‐layered ceramic nests tended to perform better than other artificial nests, although not consistently at all colonies and occupancy rates were low in some areas. Practical implication. The deployment of artificial nests proved to be a successful conservation measure for African penguins although the variety of habitats in the different colonies seems to have prevented a one solution‐fits‐all approach. The consistent poor breeding output in some areas in all nest types (<30% at the mainland colony in Simons' Town and the islands in Algoa Bay) further calls for colony‐specific conservation strategies beyond artificial nests, while the continuous decline in African penguin numbers globally calls for broader measures urgently, primarily increasing access to their forage fish prey.

show abstract

Collapse of South Africa's penguins in the early 21st century

Cited by 148 publications

References 57 publications

Prognostic Indicators of Rehabilitation Outcomes for Adult African Penguins (Spheniscus Demersus)

Prognostic Indicators of Rehabilitation Outcomes for Adult African Penguins (Spheniscus Demersus)

Conservation implications of avian malaria exposure for African penguins during rehabilitation

Decades of artificial nests towards African penguin conservation—Have they made a difference?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About