The African penguin is in crisis, recently listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and potentially facing functional extinction by 2035. The role the Two Oceans Aquarium can play in this urgent crisis is to do what it does best: create awareness and opportunities for education.
The Two Oceans Aquarium has been working with African penguins since its inception. In this time, it has been committed to creating opportunities for children and adults alike to understand the importance of these birds as indicator species in the marine ecosystem through ethical access to the colony in their care.
The African penguins at the Two Oceans Aquarium are third-generation penguins, meaning the whole colony was hatched and reared in captive care. The African penguin beach is modelled after the natural habitat seen in South Africa’s wild African penguin colonies. The penguins swim and preen in the cold waters, sun themselves on the sandy beach and rest with their chosen partners.
These African penguins cannot be released into the wild because they do not have the same level of immunity as wild populations, making them more susceptible to diseases and other threats.
Furthermore, introducing new adult penguins to the existing population would further exacerbate the pressure on food supply and survival.
Despite this, the Two Oceans Aquarium is committed to raising awareness and working toward the prevention of the extinction of the African penguin. In addition to feeding time presentations to the public, internships with our penguin team offered and school visits shaped on experiential learning, the aquarium has recently added a new African penguin awareness exhibit. This exhibit is connected to its active work in recent years on raising awareness about the plight of the African penguin, taking a primary role in the #NOOW (Not On Our Watch) African Penguin Campaign.
In support of this campaign to drive movement and raise awareness about the urgent need for action to reverse the decline of the African penguin population in the wild, the Two Oceans Aquarium organises an annual Waddle for the African penguin. In this way, the work with the African penguin colony at the aquarium comes into direct connection with the efforts with the wild colonies.