A decade later, after years of planning, construction started on a predator-proof fence at the colony site as part of an attempt by BirdLife South Africa, CapeNature and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to resurrect the colony. There are two phases to this project. The first was to attempt to lure the penguins back using a bit of trickery, or ‘social attraction’. Life-like penguin decoys were placed around the colony and penguin calls were broadcast through loudspeakers to help create the impression of a thriving colony. After two years, although there was an encouraging sign in the form of a juvenile penguin coming ashore next to a group of decoys to moult, it was decided to move onto the next phase. Time is running out for this iconic African seabird.
The African Penguin population is decreasing rapidly, primarily due to a lack of food. A shift in fish stocks away from the species’ historic feeding grounds on the west coast as well as competition with the fishing industry have meant that African Penguins breeding on the west coast of South Africa are struggling to find food. Penguins have been unable to follow the changed prey distribution because of a lack of safe breeding sites along the southern Cape coast. The birds generally breed on islands, which are naturally free of terrestrial predators, but there are no islands along the southern Cape coast. The two existing mainland colonies at Boulders Beach (Simon’s Town) and Stony Point (Betty’s Bay) are to an extent protected by the towns surrounding them, which has reduced terrestrial predator abundance. The De Hoop colony site is therefore important as a means to get the penguins closer to the fish.
この記事は African Birdlife の September/October 2021 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は African Birdlife の September/October 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
