African penguin

African penguin
At Boulders Beach in Simon's Town, South Africa
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Sphenisciformes
Family:	Spheniscidae
Genus:	Spheniscus
Species:	S. demersus
Binomial name
Spheniscus demersus (Linnaeus, 1758)
IUCN range (2024)   Extant (resident)   Extant (non-breeding)   Extant (breeding)   Extant & Reintroduced (breeding)
Distribution of the African penguin
Synonyms
Diomedea demersa Linnaeus, 1758

The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb) and are 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body's upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band.

The African penguin is a pursuit diver and feeds primarily on fish and squid. Once extremely numerous, the African penguin is now the rarest species of penguin classified as critically endangered, with its population declining rapidly due to a combination of several threats. It is a charismatic species and is popular with tourists. Other vernacular names of the species include black-footed penguin and jackass penguin, due to the species' loud, donkey-like noise^[3] (although several related species of South American penguins produce the same sound). They can be found along the coast of South Africa and Namibia.