Cape Town: The penguins population in South Africa has suffered devastating losses, with more than 60,000 African penguins starving to death after sardine numbers collapsed along the country’s west coast.
Researchers have said that two major breeding colonies on Dassen Island and Robben Island have lost more than 95 percent of their penguins between 2004 and 2012, with starvation during the moulting period identified as the likely cause.
The study, published in Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology, has concluded that these findings reflect a broader trend, noting that declines in African penguins are occurring across the region. According to Dr Richard Sherley from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter, the species has undergone a population decline of nearly 80 percent in three decades.
For most years since 2004, the biomass of the sardine species Sardinops sagax has fallen to one-quarter of its maximum abundance, driven by shifts in ocean temperature and salinity that have disrupted reproductive success. Despite the drop in fish stocks, commercial fishing activity has remained consistently high.
Sardines are a vital food source for penguins, and insufficient access during critical life stages has had catastrophic effects on survival. In 2024, African penguins were reclassified as critically endangered, with fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remaining.
Conservation groups are attempting to counter the crisis by constructing artificial nests for chicks, rescuing weakened adults and juveniles, and managing predators around key colonies. South Africa has also implemented targeted fishing bans around six major breeding sites to improve food availability, a measure that researchers hope will increase the chances of recovery.
Marine biologists outside the study have described the situation as extremely troubling. Professor Lorien Pichegru of Nelson Mandela University has said the findings expose decades of poor management of small fish stocks, adding that the crisis affects not only penguins but also other species dependent on sardines for survival.
The long-term survival of African penguins will depend on urgent ecological action, improved fishery controls, and sustained restoration efforts aimed at stabilising declining food chains.
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