10 Fun Facts About the African Penguin

Next time you visit the penguin colonies and Boulders Beach (near Simons Town) or Betty''s Bay, or at the V&A Waterfront, you''ll be able to show off to your friends and family and annoy or impress the tour guide by being a real know-it-all!

10 Fun Facts about the African Penguin

1. African Penguins are also known as Jackass Penguins, Spheniscus demersus (Latin) and Blackfoot Penguins.

 

 

2. They eat mainly fish (anchovies, pilchards, sardines, mackerel and herrings) but they also eat squid and shellfish.

 

 

3. African Penguins are about 60cm tall - boys tend to be a little bigger than girls. They weigh between 2.4 and 3.6kgs.

 

 

4. African Penguins dive on average to 30m, but as deep as 130m.

 

 

5. They hold their breath on a dive for an average of 2.5 minutes.

 

 

6. African Penguins can swim up to 20 km per hour when hunting, but their average swimming speed is 7km/h.

 

 

7. Average life span is 10 years.

 

 

8. Start breeding at approximately 4 yrs old, and normally lay 2 eggs in a nest that is burrowed in guano or sand.

 

 

9. Incubation period is about 38-42 days, with the mum and dad sharing the incubation duties.

 

 

10. They live in colonies on 24 islands and along the coast between Namibia and Port Elizabeth.

Big thanks to African Penguin for allowing us to publish these facts from their website.

You can follow @africanpenguin on twitter for updates on penguin and Chacma baboon news.