20+ Interesting facts About African Penguins
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African Penguins, also known as Cape or black-footed Penguins, inhabit several locations along coasts in southern Africa (South Africa and Namibia ). These are the only penguin species in Africa. Male and female African penguins produce a call similar to the braying of donkeys to attract mates. It is the reason they are also called “jackass penguins.” African penguins have bare skin around their eyes . This featherless skin becomes pink in hot conditions due to the accumulation of blood. It assists in regulating temperature by cooling blood through the outside air. They also push their feathers outwards to release heat. There were more than 140,000 breeding pairs of African penguins in the 1950s, but their numbers decreased to 25,000 by 2009. Consequently, IUCN declared them endangered on its Red List in 2010. The main reasons behind this decline are commercial fishing, storms, and oil pollution in the Indian Ocean . The South African government allowed the consumption of African p