Media Releases

African Penguin newly classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ as breeding pairs fall below 10,000

On 28 October 2024, the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] uplisted the African Penguin from Endangered to Critically Endangered, underscoring the species’ extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Read more.

 Replying Affidavit filed in groundbreaking litigation to protect African Penguins

13 September 2024: BirdLife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), represented by the Biodiversity Law Centre, filed their replying affidavit in landmark litigation against the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to protect African Penguins. Read more.

Ground-breaking litigation launched to protect the African Penguin from extinction

19 March 2024: The Biodiversity Law Centre, representing BirdLife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), initiated landmark litigation in the Pretoria High Court in the interests of Africa’s only penguin species: the Endangered African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Read more.

 

Scientific publications

2025

  • Pichegru L, Makoala M, Barham BJ, Barham PJ, Dalton D, Ludynia K, Freeman M, Geldenhuys D, Hagen C, Harris G, Kock A, Lawrence C, McGeorge C, McInnes AM, Makhado AB, Malan T, Masotla MJ, Milne R, Muller H, Purves A, Sherley RB, Stander N, de Villiers P, Visagie J, Wilke C,  Waller LJ. 2025. A decade of implementing the Biodiversity management plan for African penguins – successes, failures and lessons learnt. Journal for Nature Conservation, 86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2025.126919

2024

  • Angel, A, Orolowitz M, Nyengera R. 2024. Trialling the Hookpod-mini during day-time setting of Longlines off the coast of South Africa. Twelfth Meeting of the Seabird Bycatch Working Group, Peru August 2024. Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. SBWG10 Inf.18. Link
  • McInnes AM, Weideman EA, Carpenter-Kling T, Barham P, Christian M, Day K, Glencross JS, Hagen C, Kock A, Lawrence C, Ludynia K, Makhado AB, Pichegru L, Shannon L, Sherley RB, Smith C, Steinfurth A, Stander N, Upfold L, Waller L. 2024. Commercial fishery no-take zones for African penguins minimize fisheries losses at the expense of conservation gains, ICES Journal of Marine Science, fsae109, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsae109
  • Sherley RB, Makhado AB, Crawford RJ, Hagen C, Kemper J, Ludynia K, Masotla MJ, McInnes AM, Pichegru L, Tom D, Upfold L, Waller LJ. 2024. The African Penguin Spheniscus demersus should be considered Critically Endangered. Ostrich, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2024.2355618

2023

  • Da Silva C, Samaai T, Kerwath S, Adams LA, Watson KM, Bernard ATF, van der Heever GM, Angel A, Schoombie S, Frainer G, Franken M-L, Rees A, Paterson A 2023.Leaping into the future: Current application and future direction of computer vision and artificial intelligence in marine sciences in South Africa. Research Ideas and Outcomes. doi: 10.3897/rio.9.e112231. https://riojournal.com/articles.php?id=11223

2022

  • Carpenter-Kling T, de Blocq A, Hagen C, Harding C, Morris T, Pichegru L, Roberts J, Ryan PG, Wanless RM, McInnes A. 2022. Important marine areas for endangered African penguins before and after the crucial stage of moulting. Scientific Reports 12: 1–13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12969-w
  • Crawford RJM, Sydeman WJ, Tom DB, Thayer JA, Sherley RB, Shannon LJ, McInnes AM, Makhado AB, Hagen C, Furness RW, Carpenter-Kling, T, Saraux C. 2022. Food limitation of seabirds in the Benguela ecosystem and management of their prey base. Namibian Journal of Environment 6: 1–17. http://nje.org.na/index.php/nje/article/view/volume6-crawford
  • Pichegru L, Vibert L, Thiebault A, Charrier I, Stander N, Ludynia K, Lewis M, Carpenter-Kling T, McInnes A. 2022. Maritime traffic trends around the southern tip of Africa – Did marine noise pollution contribute to the local penguins’ collapse? Science of the Total Environment 849. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969722049774

2021

  • Angel A, Miranda NA, Ngcongo SV, Nyengera R, and McInnes A. 2021. Development of a Bird-scaring Line Compliance Monitoring Device.10th meeting of the Seabird Bycatch Group, Virtual meeting August 2021. Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. SBWG10 Inf.18. Link
  • Potts, WM, Mann-Lang, JB, Mann, BQ, Griffiths, CL, Attwood, CG, de Blocq, AD, Elwen, SH, Nel, R, Sink, K, Thornycroft, R. 2021. South African marine citizen science – benefits, challenges and future directions. African Journal of Marine Science 43: 353–366. PDF available here.
  • Conway AM, Durbach IN, McInnes AM, Harris RN. 2021. Frame‐by‐frame annotation of video recordings using deep neural networks. Ecosphere 12:  e03384. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3384
  • Grace MK, Akçakaya HR, Bennett EL, Brooks TM, Heath A, Hedges S, Hilton‐Taylor C, Hoffmann M, Hochkirch A, Jenkins R, Keith DA, Long B, Mallon DP, Meijaard E, Milner-Gulland EJ, Rodriguez JP, Stephenson PJ, Stuart SN, Young RP, Acebes P, Alfaro-Shigueto A, Alvarez-Clare S, Andriantsimanarilafy RR, Arbetman M, Azat C, Bacchetta G, Badola R, Barcelos LMD, Barreiros JP, Basak S, Berger DJ, Bhattacharyya S, Bino G, Borges PAV, Boughton RK, Brockmann J, Buckley HL, Burfield IJ, Burton J, Camacho-Badani T, Cano-Alonso LS, Carmichael RH, Carrero C, Carroll JP, Catsadorakis G, Chapple DG, Chapron G, Chowdhury GW, Claassens L, Cogoni D, Constantine R, Craig CA, Cunningham AA, Dahal N, Daltry JC, Chandra Das G, Dasgupta N, Davey A, Davies K, Develey P, Elangovan V, Fairclough D, Di Febbraro M, Fenu G, Fernandes FM, Fernandez EP, Finucci B, Földesi R, Foley CM, Ford M, Forstner MRJ, García N, Garcia-Sandoval R, Gardner PC, Garibay-Orijel R, Gatan-Balbas M, Gauto I, Ghazi MGU, Godfrey SS, Gollock M, González BA, Grant TD, Gray T, Gregory AJ, van Grunsven RHA, Gryzenhout M, Guernsey NC, Gupta G, Hagen C, Hagen CA, Hall MB, Hallerman E, Hare K, Hart T, Hartdegen R, Harvey-Brown Y, Hatfield R, Hawke T, Hermes C, Hitchmough R, Hoffmann PM, Howarth C, Hudson MA, Hussain SA, Huveneers C, Jacques H, Jorgensen D, Katdare S, Katsis LKD, Kaul R, Kaunda-Arara B, Keith-Diagne L, Kraus DT, de Lima TM, Lindeman K, Linsky J, Louis Jr. E, Loy A, Lughadha EN, Mangel JC, Marinari PE, Martin GM, Martinelli G, McGowan PJK, McInnes AM, Mendes ETB, Millard MJ, Mirande C, Money D, Monks JM, Morales CL, Mumu NN, Negrao R, Nguyen AH, Niloy NH, Norbury GL, Nordmeyer C, Norris D, O’Brien M, Oda GA, Orsenigo S, Outerbridge ME, Pasachnik S, Pérez-Jiménez JC, Pike C, Pilkington F, Plumb G, Portela RDCQ, Prohaska A, Quintana MG, Rakotondrasoa EF, Ranglack DH, Rankou H, Rawat AP, Reardon JT, Rheingantz ML, Richter SC, Rivers MC, Rogers LR, da Rosa P, Rose P, Royer E, Ryan C, de Mitcheson YJS, Salmon L, Salvador CH, Samways MJ, Sanjuan T, dos Santos AS, Sasaki H, Schutz E, Scott HA, Scott RM, Serena F, Sharma SP, Shuey JA, Silva CJP, Simaika JP, Smith DR, Spaet JLY, Sultana S, Talukdar BK, Tatayah V, Thomas P, Tringali A, Trinh-Dinh H, Tuboi C, Usmani AA, Vasco-Palacios AM, Vié J-C, Virens J, Walker A, Wallace B, Waller LJ, Wang H, Wearn OR, van Weerd M, Weigmann S, Willcox D, Woinarski J, Yong JWH, Young S. 2021. Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact. Conservation Biology: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13756
  • Makhado AB, Braby R, Dyer BM, Kemper J, McInnes AM, Tom D, Crawford RJ. 2021. Seabirds of the Benguela Ecosystem: Utilisation, Long-Term Changes and Challenges. In: Mikkola HJ (ed), Birds-Challenges and Opportunities for Business, Conservation and Research. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96326

2020

  • Sherley, RB, Crawford, RJM, de Blocq, AD, Dyer, BM, Geldenhuys, D, Hagen, C, Kemper, J, Makhado, AB, Pichegru, L, Upfold, L, Visagie, J, Waller, LJ, Winker, H. 2020. The conservation status and population decline of the African penguin deconstructed in space and time. Ecology and Evolution 10: 8506–8516. PDF available here

2019

  • Nyengera R & Angel A. 2019. Gear configuration and use of floats in the South African Demersal Hake longline fishery. 9th meeting of the Seabird Bycatch Group, Florianópolis, Brazil May 2019. Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. SBWG9 Inf.32. Link
  • Sherley, RB, Barham, BJ, Barham, PJ, Campbell, KJ, Crawford, RJM, Grigg, J, Horswill, C, McInnes, A, Morris, TL, Pichegru, L, Steinfurth, A, Weller, F, Winker, H, Votier, SC. 2018. Bayesian inference reveals positive but subtle effects of experimental fishery closures on marine predator demographics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285: 20172443. PDF available here.

2018

  • Sherley, RB, Barham, BJ, Barham, PJ, Campbell, KJ, Crawford, RJM, Grigg, J, Horswill, C, McInnes, A, Morris, TL, Pichegru, L, Steinfurth, A, Weller, F, Winker, H, Votier, SC. 2018. Bayesian inference reveals positive but subtle effects of experimental fishery closures on marine predator demographics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285: 20172443. PDF available here.

2017

  • Sullivan BJ, Kibel B, Kibel P,  Yates O, Potts JM, Ingham B, Domingo A, Gianuca D, Jiménez S, Lebepe B, Maree BA, Neves T, Peppes F, Rasehlomi T, Silva‐Costa A & Wanless M. 2017. At-sea trialling of the Hookpod: a ‘one-stop’ mitigation solution for seabird bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries. Animal Conservation 21: 159–167. PDF available here.
  • Crawford R, Ellenberg U, Frere E, Hagen C, Baird K, Brewin P, Crofts S, Glass J, Mattern T, Pompert J, Ross K, Kemper J, Ludynia K, Sherley RB, Steinfurth A, Suazo CG, Yorio P, Tamini L, Mangel JC, Bugoni L, Jiménez Uzcátegui G, Simeone A, Luna-Jorquera G, Gandini P, Woehler EJ, Pütz K, Dann P, Chiardia A, Small C. 2017. Tangled and drowned: a global review of penguin bycatch in fisheries. Endangered Species Research 34:373–396. PDF available here.

Pre-2016

  • Silva MC, Matias R, Wanless RM, Ryan PG, Stephenson BM, Bolton M, Ferrand N & Coelho M. 2015. Understanding the mechanisms of anti-tropical divergence in the seabird White-faced Storm-petrel (Procellariiformes: Pelagodroma marina) using a multi-locus approach. Molecular Ecology 24: 3122–3137. PDF available here.
  • Wanless RM. 2015. Seabirds; a review of status, distribution and interaction with fisheries in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Chapter 10: 351-364. In: Van der Elst RP and Everett BI. 2015 (eds). Offshore fisheries of the Southwest Indian Ocean: their status and the impact on vulnerable species. Oceanographic Research Institute, Special Publication, 10. 448pp
  • Wanless RM & Maree BA. 2014. Problems and solutions for seabird bycatch in trawl fisheries. Animal Conservation 17: 534. PDF available here.
  • Maree BA, Wanless RM, Fairweather, TP, Sullivan BJ & Yates O. 2014. Significant reductions in mortality of threatened seabirds in a South African trawl fishery. Animal Conservation 17: 520–529. PDF available here.

Position statements

BirdLife South Africa has developed a number of position statements to assist staff, bird clubs, council members and indeed all members, to align themselves with the organisation’s viewpoints on a range of important matters. These statements are intended to summarise and demonstrate a clear stance on specific viewpoints. All the Position Statements can be found here but those relating to seabirds and the marine environment are listed below.

Position Statement on Tracking of Birds

Position Statement on Avian Influenza

Position Statement on Invasive Species

Position Statement on Aquaculture

Position Statement on Birding Code of Ethics

Position Statement on Island Restoration