African penguin: South African conservationists take legal action to save endangered species

Almost all the surviving African penguins live in seven colonies along Africa’s south-western coastline.

It is estimated that there are now just 8,750 breeding pairs left in the country.

The penguins draw tourists from all over the world who come to see the short, stocky birds with the distinctive black stripe running down the side of their bodies.

They seem unfazed by the people taking their pictures but, as they preen in the sunshine or watch over their eggs, they face a precarious existence.

They are vulnerable to natural predators – seals and certain types of gull.

But the real enemies are human beings.

The now-discontinued practice of harvesting guano (accumulated bird droppings into which penguins would dig their burrows) damaged their habitat.

Climate change is exacerbating the problem – storms and flooding endanger their colonies and it is becoming harder for the birds to access food as ocean currents and temperatures shift.

And the sardines and anchovies on which the penguins depend are also a valuable commodity for the commercial fishing industry.

The South African government has tried to restrict the activities of so-called purse seine fishing vessels, which use large nets to catch great shoals of fish.

It is a volatile issue here.

Over the last 15 years there have been experimental closures of fishing grounds, protracted negotiations between the fishing industry and conservationists and input from an independent panel of international experts.

But penguin numbers are still declining.

BirdLife South Africa and Sanccob argue that current closures – under which fishing is prohibited around some colonies – are neither extensive enough nor in the right locations to fully protect the penguin population.

Their lawyers are demanding the immediate implementation of “biologically meaningful” closures.