Brillenpinguin

 

Klassifikation:

Weltweite Population

Beschreibung und Lebensweise

Physical Description
The African, or jackass, penguin is a medium-sized penguin which stands about 45 centimeters (18 inches) tall and has a total body length of about 60 centimeters (24 inches). Males weigh an average of 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds) and females an average of 3.1 kilograms (7 pounds). However, they look extremely similar in the wild and small males may be smaller than large females.

Like all penguins, African penguins have a short, thick neck, a streamlined body and a short, wedge-shaped tail with small flipper-like wings. They are black on the back and wings, with a black band across the chest, and black cheeks. The bill is black with a light band around it. They have a white belly with black spots or speckles, black webbed feet and black claws. This fast-swimming penguin gets its nickname of "jackass" from the donkey-like call of territorial males.

Natural History
African penguins are endemic to South Africa and Namibia. They are distributed from Transkei to northern Namibia and breed in densely packed groups (colonies or rookeries) from Bird Island, Algoa Bay, to Hollams Bird Island, Namibia.

African penguins return to the same nest site and, usually, to the same partner each year. Because they are ground nesters, they require predator-free breeding areas and are therefore limited by the availability of predator-free islands and mainland areas. They nest in burrows in the sand, under overhanging rocks and bushes, or in the open. They used to nest in guano (bird droppings), but most of the guano was removed for fertilizer in the 19th century, causing destruction of most of this breeding habitat.

The breeding season usually starts in January on the islands and each pair usually lays two eggs, three or four days apart. Eggs are incubated by both parents for 38 days each. One parent guards the nest while the other feeds on anchovy, pilchard, horse mackerel and round herring. Chicks are born with gray down and are fed regurgitated food. Usually only the first chick survives, as there is insufficient food for two. The surviving chick fledges between 80 and 130 days depending on foraging conditions and proficiency of parents in providing food.

African penguins molt each year at their breeding island. As the insulating qualities of their feathers break down, they are no longer able to keep warm, and their feathers must be replaced. For the 21-day molt, the penguins are land-bound, unable to swim or feed. To prepare for it, they feed extensively for about five weeks before the molt begins.

The population of African penguins has crashed from at least 1.2 million in 1930 to 100,000 in 1978. The species is continuing to decline.

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Status der Art

Status
Local conservation measures include permit-access-only to breeding islands, control of feral cats, and the restriction of fur seals onto penguin breeding areas.

Cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled birds is carried out by the private South African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).

The African jackass penguin is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The drastic decline in their numbers is expected to continue and may result in the extinction of this species in 70 years. The African penguin is also listed on Appendix II by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Threats to the Species

Historically, harvesting of eggs for human consumption was a major threat. Although a limited amount of egg collecting continues, the commercial harvest of eggs stopped in 1967 and is illegal today. Today, oil pollution from tankers cleaning their bilges and from oil spills are major threats. African penguins are also threatened by destruction of breeding habitat, competition for breeding space with other animals (e.g. fur seals), disturbance of breeding animals on the mainland by humans, vulnerability to predators such as leopards and dogs, and reduced prey availability due to commercial fishing. Some penguins are still killed and used as bait in certain fisheries. International Trade No legal trade.

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Autor und Quellen

Sources
CITES. 2001. African penguin. http://www.cites.org.

Enchanted Learning.com. 2001. Jackass penguin. http://www.zoomschool.com.

IUCN. 2001. The 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species—Spheniscus demersus. http://www.redlist.org.

Payne, A.I.L. and R.J.M. Crawford. 1989. Oceans of life off southern Africa. Claeberg Publishers, Cape Town. 380pp.

UWC Enviro Facts. 2001. Jackass penguin. http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za.

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